Photographer Mark E. Hawkes and his son Charley built a photography studio at this location where much of Red Lodge’s history was documented in pictures. Charley later struck out for Great Falls, and son Harry joined Mark. Hawkes & Son sold the business in 1919 to William Lewis. The son of a Welsh coal miner, Lewis ran the studio and continued to document the town’s history. In 1926, a depressed economy threatened the business, forcing Lewis to relocate to Seattle. Katie Psenda Egenes, who apprenticed with Lewis, eventually came to own Flash’s Studio, where the valuable Red Lodge collections of Hawkes and Lewis came to reside. Jewelers Berne Rydberg and later Peter Micheletto occupied the north half of the building from 1914 through the 1960s. The one-story brick block features the unusual preservation of the original storefront with recessed double entry and large display windows framed in wood. A large north-facing window at the rear allowing maximum use of natural light is a unique reminder of the original owner’s profession.
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