Born of the 1883 arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Northside grew with the railroad’s early twentieth-century expansion. Simple housing predominated in the working-class neighborhood, which contained few brick homes. This circa 1904 house, along with its neighbors, was an exception, probably because all three were built by A. C. Hollenbeck, Missoula’s leading brick manufacturer. Architectural detailing— pedimented gables, fluted porch columns, arched entries and window openings, and fish-mouth projections over gable windows—lent further distinction. This was, nonetheless, worker housing. Norma and Addison Darrow bought the property in 1911, when Addison worked for the railroad. At the time, it also contained a small two-story alley house, presumably a rental, a common feature on the working-class Northside. The Darrows and their four children owned the property for almost fifty years. At one time, both Addison and Norma worked for the Northern Pacific, as did at least one of their sons. Addison and sons also sometimes worked at the Anaconda Company’s Bonner mill, and the family occasionally lived near the mill and rented their Northside house.
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