Filed Under Great Falls

Lemon Boarding House

Great Falls Central Business Historic District

Beneath the façade of this solid-looking building stands a much older wooden boarding house. In 1891, only seven years after the founding of Great Falls, a two-story dwelling stood on this lot. Mrs. S. H. Lemon ran the boarding house in 1896 and 1897, and owners continued to rent “furnished rooms” into the 1910s. Apartments were at a premium during this period, as Great Falls boomed from nearly 4,000 citizens in 1890 to over 15,000 in 1910. Dr. Alfred G. Ladd lived and saw patients here in 1913 and 1914. Cascade County’s first physician, Ladd is credited with performing the first major surgery in Great Falls, an appendectomy. The residence soon reverted to a boarding house, owned and managed in 1920 by Elizabeth Good. Four families lived here, with tenants including the business agent for a labor union, a jeweler, and a grocer. Sometime before 1929, Good renovated the property, attaching an ell-shaped addition to the rear. She also installed the dignified brick veneer, under which remains the residence’s original clapboard siding.

Images

Lemon Boarding House
Lemon Boarding House Lemon Boarding House. Front to side view of the building, facing west to southwest on 6th Street South. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Candi Helms/Amy Hinshaw Date: July 2002

Location

12 6th Street South, Great Falls, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Lemon Boarding House,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/185.