Filed Under Kalispell

636 Third Avenue East

East Side Historic District

In 1890, the Flathead River town of Demersville was the valley’s trading center. However, after the Great Northern founded Kalispell in 1891, residents—including longtime owner of this home, Ira Sanborn—abandoned Demersville for the new railroad town. Many took their houses with them, and local sources believe that this one-story wooden home was one of the many Demersville buildings loaded onto log rollers so horses could haul them three miles north to Kalispell. When Walter and Ethel Craven purchased the property in 1910, the residence was advertised as a “modern 6 room house” with a “bath, hot and cold water, electric lights, chicken and wood house; some fruit. All first class.” The chicken and wood houses are long gone; by 1927, a two-story garage had taken their place. The primary residence was also remodeled, but it still sports many features that characterized early Kalispell homes: wooden siding; decorative shingles in the front gable; a native rock foundation; the original glass windowpanes, with all their subtle irregularities; and a full-length, hipped-roof front porch.

Images

636 Third Avenue East
636 Third Avenue East 636 Third Avenue East. Front to side view of the house, facing west to northwest on 3rd Avenue East. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: Oct. 1980

Location

636 3rd Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “636 Third Avenue East,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/400.