Helena South-Central Historic District

32 Locations | Curated by Historic Montana

This first permanent settlement of the gold camp at Last Chance Gulch offers a glimpse of early Helena from the late 1860s to the 1890s. By the 1870s, a Catholic cathedral, St. John's Hospital, two schools, and dormitories presided over the district atop Catholic Hill. In curious juxtaposition, Helena's red-light district emerged just below along Miller and State streets in the 1880s. Mansions and modest dwellings boasted a wealth of architectural design from Second Empire to Queen Anne, Italianate, and Revival styles. The Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883 spurred economic growth and the population swelled. A German community settled on First Street and other ethnic enclaves localized in the district. The South-Central District remained a preferred location into the early 1880s, and Montana's first governor, J. K. Toole, established residency at Rodney and State streets in 1883. But district vitality waned in the late 1880s when wealthy residents built new mansions on the city's west side. The earthquake of 1935 left its indelible mark claiming most of Catholic Hill and other historic buildings. Wood siding replaced fallen brick veneer and stucco concealed exterior cracks. Though the red-light district and dozens of homes were demolished during 1970s Urban Renewal, this once robust neighborhood is still a quiet reminder of Helena's colorful past.   

Pioneer capitalist Charles W. Cannon built this architectural gem for his bride, Catherine, in 1868. It was then Helena’s finest residence and is today a splendid local example of the Carpenter Gothic style. The steeply pitched roof and lancet windows typify Gothic design, while turned spindles,…
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Lydia Jane English was recently widowed when she and her family moved into this substantial Italianate style residence, built in 1888. Her husband, miner Harvey W. English, was a prominent Helena pioneer who served in the territorial legislature, as chairman of schools in 1867, as county sheriff…
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The lure of gold drew miner James H. “Missouri Jim” Halford and his wife, Ellen, to Montana Territory in the mid 1860s. James was a staunch Democrat like many early Helenans, and had earned his nickname commanding a Confederate company during the Civil War. A man of varied interests, James served a…
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Contractors Anton and Martin Holter, who operated Helena’s first sawmill, built this frame residence as a rental investment in 1888. Developers like the wealthy Holter brothers built a number of south-central residences during the prosperous 1880s, transforming this once rural area into a settled…
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Stonemason Frank Jezick emigrated from Croatia in 1882, leaving behind his wife Mary and three children. Before long, he had established himself in Helena, and in 1887 his family joined him in a newly constructed two-story home at the corner of Clancy and Sparta. The stone and brick residence,…
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Helena’s population grew from 3,624 in 1880 to 13,834 in 1890. The demand for housing grew apace. Between 1888, when the city annexed the Cox Addition, and the early 1900s, forty, mostly working-class homes were built in the South Hills, including this vernacular wood-frame residence. Norwegian…
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A small rectangular gabled dwelling built against a one-room log cabin stood on this spacious corner in the 1870s. The property had changed hands several times when Austrian immigrant Franz Koch, a bookbindery foreman, purchased it in the late 1880s. His German wife, Meta, was a skilled seamstress…
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Irish immigrant James M. Ryan owned a number of local rental properties, including this appealing wood-frame apartment building constructed as a duplex between 1885 and 1888. Rapid growth during the 1880s prompted neighborhood tenants to take in boarders, adding income and easing a troublesome…
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Civic expansion in the late 1880s and demands for housing caused new residential areas to open off the fringes of town. As a result, rental dwellings appeared along Spencer Street creating a diverse population of working-class and ethnic families. Many expressmen and teamsters like William Sieger…
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