Time stands still within the quiet confines of this nationally renowned social club, the oldest in the Northwest. A group of Helena’s elite founded the Montana Club in 1885 “for gentlemen only.” Members built a seven-story building on this site in 1893, but fire consumed that landmark in 1903. A new Montana Club literally rose from its ashes. Cass Gilbert, architect of the Minnesota State Capitol and New York City’s famed Woolworth Building, incorporated the original first-floor stone arch design into the new plans. Completed in 1905, the American Renaissance style building sheathes a contemporary structural system in a classical façade. Over the years members have included copper kings, millionaires, and politicians who hosted such notables as Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. Perseverance and adaptability have seen the club through hard times and change. In 1915, women were first invited to the New Year’s Eve celebration, and gender segregation eventually became a thing of the past. Today, the Montana Club is one of Helena’s most commanding anchors, an ambassador from another era, where tradition endures in grand style.
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