Sometimes called “labor’s aristocracy,” locomotive engineers were the highest paid workers on the railroad. That fact gave William Kelly, an engineer for the Milwaukee Road, the means to purchase this one-story home. In 1920 he lived here with his wife, Nellie, their three-year-old son, and his wife’s sister. Building contractor Carl Anderson constructed the residence in 1917; he almost certainly took the design from a pattern book. These books of architectural plans allowed local builders to bring the latest fashions to relatively isolated communities like Miles City. A classic Craftsman style bungalow, the Kelly residence features a low-pitched roof; exposed rafter tails; wide, overhanging eaves; and a full-length front porch (now enclosed). Japanese architecture inspired its distinctive roofline. Japan widely promoted its art and architecture through the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Architects responded, incorporating Japanese elements into their residential designs. Anderson must have liked the exotic flavor of the flared eaves and molded gable peaks; he built several other bungalows in Miles City that sported similar “pagoda-style” roofs.
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