Filed Under Miles City

Pope House

Miles City East Main Street Residential Historic District

A low-pitched hipped roof, an asymmetrical open front porch with massive square porch supports, clean lines, and wide overhanging eaves mark the two-story Pope residence as a classic example of the Prairie style. Builder Thomas Burton clad the residence in a new product called “Flex-O-Tile,” a substance that resembled stucco, but was said to be “more lasting … practically indestructible—and fireproof.” Rancher G. B. Pope had the home built in 1917, and in 1920 his twenty-two-year-old son James, James’s twenty-three-year-old wife Helen, and James’s nineteen-year-old sister Frances all shared the residence. Banker and businessman Karl Johnson purchased the home from the Popes, but by 1930 he had sold it to John Johnson. An auto dealer and mechanic, Johnson strategically located his business on the Yellowstone Trail (the tourist route from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Yellowstone National Park). Not surprisingly, John was responsible for construction of the two-car garage behind the house. He and his wife Jacqueline lived here into the 1970s.

Images

Pope House
Pope House Pope House. Front view of the house, facing south to southeast on East Main Street. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Dena Sanford and Susan McDaniel Date: Mar. 1989

Location

1906 Main Street, Miles City, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Pope House,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/268.