Filed Under Kalispell

George Drew Residence

East Side Historic District

Kalispell was only two years old when German immigrant Louise Sels and her son Ed had this cross-gabled Queen Anne style residence built in 1892, a year that saw over a hundred homes built in the new town. Louise Sels soon sold the house to her son-in-law Arthur Burnes, but according to the 1900 census, she continued to live in the home with her extended family. The household included her three grown children, granddaughter, son-in-law, and his mother. Josephine Richards and Ella Bell owned the house between 1902 and 1905, renting out "nice large front rooms" to gentlemen. The distinctive horseshoe-shaped porch was added between 1903 and 1907. The home's longest occupant, Maude Drew, lived here between 1905 until her death in 1959 at age 89. A year after she and her husband George bought the house in 1905 they installed a brick sidewalk. The local newspaper lauded this improvement over the standard wood sidewalks and predicted, "Other property owners will note the manner in which the walk wears with much interest."

Images

George Drew Residence
George Drew Residence George Drew Residence. Front to side view of the house, facing northeast on the corner of 4th Avenue East and 4th Street East. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: Oct. 1980

Location

345 4th Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “George Drew Residence,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/422.