Filed Under Missoula

426 North First Street West

Northside Missoula Railroad Historic District

One hundred thirty-seven Missoulians—mostly railroad workers—lived in the Ross House, a large hotel complex that occupied half this block in 1890. Ten years later, a covered walkway still connected the two-story wooden building on this site—home to white day laborers and their families—with the next-door boarding house for Japanese railroad section men. The block lost its large boarding houses between 1902 and 1909, but it retained its working-class character and connection to the railroad. By that year, Northern Pacific engineer Arthur Rogers and his sister Marguerite lived in this wood-framed residence, constructed after the boarding houses were demolished. Frank Pfau, who worked as a packer for the Northern Flour Mill, lived here throughout the 1930s with his wife Katie and their nine children. The hipped-roof house, which boasts a large front gable, is more elaborate than many in the neighborhood. Turned porch supports and crown casing over the gable window are among the home’s Queen Anne style details.

Images

426 North First Street West
426 North First Street West 426 North First Street West (PAc 91-51 Northside Missoula R9612 F04). Front to side view of the house, facing north on North 1st Street West. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Allan Matthews Date: Mar. 1994

Location

426 North 1st Street West, Missoula, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “426 North First Street West,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/951.