When Solomon Content built this commercial building in 1864, it was one of the area’s most impressive, desirable business spaces. Stucco scored to look like stone originally covered the rubble stone walls, and Gothic transoms lent a civilized dignity. While Virginia City was Montana’s Territorial Capital (1865-1875), the second floor held the entire territorial government offices. The first floor housed retail stores, including grocers Rockfellow and Dennee (1864) and clothing stores of the Seigel brothers, Henry Elling, Armstrong and Johnson, and Robert Vickers. In 1943, Vickers' grandson Bob Gohn, who lost his sight in a mine accident at age twenty, opened his famous bar, grocery, and hardware store here, which he ran with remarkable ability until his death in 1986.
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