Reputedly the first two-story building on Main Street and one of Helena’s few remaining structures dating to the 1860s, this stone building originally housed offices and furnished lodgings. Miner and prominent merchant E. M. Dunphy purchased the Victorian-period style structure in 1868, establishing the Helena Bowling Gymnasium in the basement. Irish miner-turned-millionaire Thomas Cruse bought the building in 1887 to house his newly founded bank. J. W. Switzer’s wholesale liquor and wine dealership was located here during the 1800s. The façade reflects the building’s 1890s remodeling.
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