Local rancher Frank Church purchased this property as an investment in 1905. Its history is intertwined with the community’s early medical needs. W. A. Talmage constructed the building in 1906 as the Carbon County Hospital and Sanitarium under Dr. S. M. Souders. It was the county’s first modern medical facility offering trained nurses, steam heat, x-rays, and electric and thermal treatments. Dr. Souders moved to a larger hospital in 1909 and throughout the 1910s the upper floor of this building housed the private hospital of Dr. Edwin Adams, longtime Red Lodge physician and local civic leader. By 1912, undertaker R. B. Mooney occupied the ground floor advertising “prompt and careful attention” to out-of-town calls. R. G. Martin later operated his undertaking business here until 1920. By 1927, a millinery shop had replaced the funeral parlor. The Western Commercial style building features locally produced concrete blocks, which form a rusticated pattern. The ground-floor retains its original wood-framed storefront, recessed entry, and separate doorway accessing the second story. Original window placements and decorative cornice make this a wonderful example of sensitive rehabilitation.
Images