Eagle's Store

By The Montana National Register Sign Program

Eagle's Store Eagle's Store (PAc 91-51 West Yellowstone R11 F24). Front to side view of the building, facing north on Yellowstone Avenue near the corner of Yellowstone and North Canyon Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: Sept. 1980

When the tracks of the Oregon Short Line reached West Yellowstone in November 1907, Park employee Samuel P. Eagle applied for and was granted a permit to operate a business adjacent to the railway right-of-way. The Eagles, in partnership with the Alex Stuarts, built a tiny 12-by-12-foot general store on this site in 1908. It was the first commercial operation in West Yellowstone. The Eagles enlarged the store in 1913 and in 1927, the old store was razed and construction began on the present building. It was built in three stages and finished in 1930. Prominent Bozeman architect Fred Willson, who designed other structures in the same Rustic style within Yellowstone National Park, designed all three sections. Donating his time because of a desire to promote the Rustic style, Willson was reimbursed for direct costs only. Massive 18-to-36-foot red fir logs set in rhyolite and concrete support the building. Shingle siding and a roof of multicolored "T" lock asphalt shingles pierced by gabled dormers provide striking surface variation. All elements of the three sections are original. Outstanding interior features include the back bar installed in the original store in 1910 and the original 1930 front bar and stools. Millwork, tile, and white marble tops of both the customer counter and the back bar remain intact. Still a gift shop and soda fountain owned and managed by the Eagles, this impressive pioneer family business is one of West Yellowstone’s most outstanding architectural landmarks.