Filed Under Forsyth

Bachelors Club

Forsyth Residential Historic District

A large central dormer and an inset front porch distinguish this Craftsman style residence. Businessman and real estate developer Winnie Dowlin likely had the home constructed circa 1910 along with the two houses immediately to the south for rental and resale. By 1914, the side-gabled, one-and-one-half-story residence had become home to the "Bachelors Club," an upscale boarding house for professional gentlemen. Housekeeper Alice A. Coleman created a comfortable, homelike atmosphere for the residents, who included dentist Mark Baker and the legendary Charles L. Crum. One of the most prominent victims of the anti-German hysteria that flourished during World War I, Crum served as judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District from 1912 to 1918. That year the Montana state senate impeached him as punishment for his outspoken anti-war views. Over seventy years later, the state senate reconsidered his case. With a unanimous vote of 46-0, it passed a resolution exonerating Crum in a "re-avowal of the principles of free speech and . . . desire to right a historical wrong."

Images

Bachelors Club
Bachelors Club Bachelors Club (PAc 91-51 Forsyth Roll04 F02). Front to side view of the house, facing east on North 13th Avenue near the intersection of North 13th Avenue and Oak Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1988

Location

471 North 13th Avenue, Forsyth, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Bachelors Club,” Historic Montana, accessed April 16, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/1806.