Filed Under Virginia City

Metropolitan Meat Market

Virginia City National Historic Landmark District

George Gohn was one of the first to arrive at Alder Gulch in 1863, where he and Conrad Kohrs set up a meat market in a log cabin. Alkali dust sifted through the chinks and covered the meat, prompting Gohn to experiment with various other locations until he settled on this site in 1880. When fire destroyed much of the block in 1888, only Gohn rebuilt. The present building, completed that year, long stood solitary on this section of Wallace Street. Decorative pilasters, brackets, and imitation quarried stone highlight the cast-iron storefront manufactured by George Mesker of Evansville, Indiana. Recent interior renovation included restoration of the tin ceiling. In the process, owners discovered a hidden treasure behind a plastered drywall: Gohn’s elaborate oak meat cooler with beveled mirrors intact. This unusual example of 1880s state-of-the-art equipment stands sixteen feet high. Gohn advertised that his cooler was always well stocked with beef, veal, pork, game fowl, and mutton and that his peddling wagons were “run regularly up and down the gulch.”

Images

Metropolitan Meat Market in Virginia City, Montana
Metropolitan Meat Market in Virginia City, Montana View of a storefront with two men standing in front, corrals and homes visible to the left. The Metropolitan Meat Market owned by George Gohn in Virginia City, Montana. Source: PAc 956-152. Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. Creator: Unknown photographer Date: ca. 1900
Gohn Metropolitan Meat Market, Virginia City
Gohn Metropolitan Meat Market, Virginia City View of two commercial buildings in Virginia City, Montana. Building on right is the Vanderbeck's Market which was previously the Gohn Meat Market owned by George Gohn. The original Gohn market burned down and was rebuilt in 1890 by Gohn. Building on left is the Virginia City Telephone Office built by Vanderbeck. Source: PAc 956-153, Montana Legacy Photograph Collection, Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. Creator: Unknown photographer Date: 1944
Metropolitan Meat Market, Virginia City
Metropolitan Meat Market, Virginia City View looking north at building facade Source: Courtesy of Montana Heritage Commission Creator: Kate Steeley, Montana Heritage Commission Date: Oct 2019

Location

215 West Wallace Street, Virginia City, Montana

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Metropolitan Meat Market,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/885.