Martha J. Allison-Reinkeh House
John and Martha Allison came to Montana from Philadelphia in 1882 and established a photographic studio in Missoula. In the 1880s Mrs. Allison acquired land through purchase and homestead claim north of the newly platted town of Hamilton. Mrs. Allison began construction of a house in 1889 on the property, and in 1891 and 1894 she divided her land into lots, platting the Riverview Addition and Subdivision. Circa 1895, Mrs. Allison added a cross-axis section on the east to her Queen Anne style dwelling. One of Hamilton’s earliest homes, this combination Queen Anne/vernacular style farmhouse is a reminder of the early agrarian settlement of the Bitterroot Valley. Its rather odd placement on the rear of the lot suggests that streets and blocks were platted at a later date around it. A steep irregular roofline, decorative bargeboards, fishscale shingles, and angled bay reflect the Queen Anne style while corner boards, eave returns, a hipped roof over the porch, and a Georgian style relief-paneled door illustrate the eclecticism so favored during the Victorian era. Mrs. Allison-Reinkeh, now remarried, sold her interest in the Riverview properties before realizing substantial profit, but the New York-born homesteader left an indelible mark on Hamilton in the Eastern street names of her Riverview blocks.
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