Filed Under Hardin

Kendrick House

Hardin Commercial Historic District

Elizabeth and John Kendrick arrived in Hardin in 1914 and soon opened a boarding house downtown. The following year, Elizabeth purchased this lot, hiring Billings architect Charles Bloedel and contractor Ernest Adler to design and build a new boarding house. The modern, brick structure boasted eleven bedrooms, each with hot and cold running water. After her divorce from John in December 1915, Elizabeth relied on the boarding house for her support. Elizabeth moved to Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1917 and sold the Kendrick House for ten thousand dollars. In 1920, tenants included an engineer, musician, mechanic, grocer, rancher, and physician. In 1943, the boarding house was converted into an emergency hospital. The living room became the operating room, and surgical patients recuperated in the parlor. Upstairs rooms housed maternity patients. The hospital only remained open for two years. After completion of the Big Horn County Hospital in 1945, the Kendrick became a boarding house once more. Although a fire destroyed much of the interior in 1990, the elegant foursquare home was lovingly restored to a bed and breakfast, named after the original owners.

Images

Kendrick House
Kendrick House Still image capture of Kendrick House, Hardin, Montana. Image adhered to paper with typed information. b&w print. Source: Official records of the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, Montana Creator: Unidentified photographer Date: c. 1984

Location

206 North Custer Avenue, Hardin, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Kendrick House,” Historic Montana, accessed April 26, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/88.