Filed Under Anaconda

St. Jean Block/Smith Building

Anaconda Commercial Historic District

Dr. Felix L. St. Jean and brick mason Joe Cosgrove commissioned local architect Herman Kemna to design this building in 1893. Though later owners remodeled the first-floor façade and renamed the building, the second story remains among the best preserved and most elaborate cast-iron façades in downtown Anaconda. The local Tuttle Manufacturing and Supply Company designed and fabricated the iron front in an unusual Italianate/Queen Anne style featuring Eastlake ornamentation. The Eastlake style, adapted from furniture designed by English architect Charles L. Eastlake, incorporated carved brackets, ornate columns and capitals, and symmetrically placed bas relief (raised) and incised floral motifs. Dr. St. Jean, head surgeon at St. Ann’s Hospital, had his private practice and rented rooms upstairs, while the Standard Drug Company and a dance hall operated on the first floor. Dr. St. Jean was instrumental in bringing modern healthcare to Anaconda, and he also invested in mining and real estate. He formed the Georgetown Mining and Milling Company in 1890 and developed several other buildings, including the Anaconda National Bank building next door.

Images

St. Jean Block/Smith Building
St. Jean Block/Smith Building St. Jean Block/Smith Building. Front view of the building, facing north to northwest on East Park Avenue. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Kim Morrison Date: Oct. 1995
St. Jean Block/Smith Building
St. Jean Block/Smith Building St. Jean Block/Smith Building. Front view of the building, facing north to northwest (closer view). Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Kim Morrison Date: Oct. 1995
St. Jean Block/Smith Building
St. Jean Block/Smith Building St. Jean Block/Smith Building. Front view of the building, facing north on East Park Avenue. Source: Montana Historical Society Creator: Joe Furshong Date: July 2020

Location

210 East Park Avenue, Anaconda, Montana | Public

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “St. Jean Block/Smith Building,” Historic Montana, accessed April 20, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2830.