Filed Under Philipsburg

Philipsburg Historic District

Philipsburg’s early-day fortunes ebbed and flowed with mining. Today, its historic district is one of Montana’s best preserved late-nineteenth-century mining towns, with commercial, public, and private buildings dating from the boom period of silver mining. Silver was discovered south of here in 1864, and only three years later Philipsburg (at an elevation of 5,270 feet) was growing at the “rate of one house per day,” an area newspaper reported. That same year, the St. Louis and Montana Company sent Philip Deideshimer (for whom the town was named) to Philipsburg to help develop and manage its mines and stamp mills. Only two years later, the nearby Hope Mill shut down and Philipsburg was largely deserted. A revival of mining activities from the mid-1880s to mid-1890s led to Philipsburg’s greatest growth, when tens of millions of dollars worth of silver bullion, ore, and slag were shipped to out-of-state markets. The wooden, false-front buildings on Broadway were replaced with masonry structures. When silver mining was curtailed in 1893, recently discovered sapphire deposits helped stabilize the local economy. That year also saw the creation of Granite County, with Philipsburg as county seat. During World War I, Philipsburg was the largest supplier of domestic manganese, which led to another boom for the area. After that boom, Philipsburg has slipped into a stable existence based on agriculture, government, logging, limited mining, and tourism.

Click here to tour the district.

Images

Philipsburg, Montana
Philipsburg, Montana Digital ID: (intermediary roll film) fsa 8c21535 Reproduction Number: LC-USF34-065154-D (b&w film neg.) Source: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
Washington DC 20540
Creator: unidentified Date: [no date]
Philipsburg, Montana, streetview
Philipsburg, Montana, streetview Philipsburg, Montana Digital ID: (intermediary roll film) fsa 8c21536 Reproduction Number: LC-USF34-065155-D (b&w film neg.) Source: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
Washington, DC
Creator: unidentified Date: [no date]
Philipsburg Historic District
Philipsburg Historic District Philipsburg Historic District, facing west on West Kearney Street, view of building fronts. Source: MontanaPictures.net Creator: MontanaPictures.net Date: Dec. 2008

Location

Properties within the Original Townsite and selected additions, Philipsburg, Montana | Private | Public

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Philipsburg Historic District,” Historic Montana, accessed March 19, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/50.