The transformation of Miles City in the early 1900s into the economic, social, and governmental center of the valley precipitated the decision to build a permanent city hall. Ed Arnold, tailor and businessman, became one of the motivating forces behind the project to erect the new facility. Arriving in Miles City in 1885, Arnold served as city treasurer for two terms and achieved the position of secretary in the Custer County building. Designed by Grover C. Pruett, one of Miles City’s most successful engineer/architects in the early twentieth century, this structure is Pruett’s greatest landmark in the city. The two-story concrete Renaissance Revival style building faced in Hebron brick is a good example of the new “academically correct” Renaissance styling and is a symbol of Miles City as a progressive and cosmopolitan town. The words “City Hall” are carved into the sandstone frieze above the portal as a permanent reminder of the building’s continued public service since 1914.
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