Kevin Kooistra honored with John DeHaas Memorial Award
On May 16, Montana Historical Society and State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) SHPO honored Kooistra with the John N. DeHaas Memorial Award for his Outstanding Contribution to Historic Preservation in Montana. Lilly and Emily Kooistra-Manning accepted the award on their father’s behalf.
Crowley Block in Lewistown recognized as an outstanding rehabilitation project
On May 16, Montana Historical Society and State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) recognized the owners of the Crowley Block for Outstanding Historic Preservation Stewardship. Built in 1913 in Classical Revival architectural style, the Crowley building in Lewistown hosted several businesses until it was vacated in 2016. One Health acquired the block in 2019 to expand its medical and behavioral health services, and partnered with Missoula-based Homeword, Inc. to offer affordable housing on the upper floors. One Health’s clinic opened in August 2022, creating 20 full-time jobs. All apartments on the upper floors are occupied.
Joan Brownell honored for outstanding service
Congrats to Glendive’s Joan Brownell, recipient of the MTHS State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Outstanding Contribution to Historic Preservation award. Joan has authored or co-authored 150 cultural resource reports and 20 National Register nominations. Her well-rounded and thoughtful work brings history to life and provides an enduring record to other researchers. Her products are detailed, well-researched, and imbued with her obvious appreciation and grasp of a location’s importance and history.
The Montana Historic Preservation Awards are held every two years to celebrate Montana’s outstanding heritage places and the people who help preserve them.
https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/celebrate-preservation
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Dion Block in Glendive receives Governor’s Award
Constructed in 1905 and renovated in 1929, the Dion Block in Glendive was a vital commercial space for much of the 20th century. On May 16, Kevin and Angela McPherson McPhersons received the Governor’s Award for an Outstanding Historic Preservation Project. Since acquiring property in 2017, the McPhersons and have invested more than $1.5 million in grants, private funds, and sweat equity with assistance from USDA-REAP, SHPO, Dept. of Commerce, and Federal and State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits.
Mystic Lake Powerhouse: The Power of Perspective
By 1920, Billings served as a hub of industry and was among the most populous cities in Montana. In response to the region’s growing demand for energy, the Montana Power Company constructed the dam and powerhouse at Mystic Lake between 1923 and 1927.
Fort Peck Dam: The Power of Perspective
Built between 1933 and 1940 at a bend in the Missouri River south of the Nakoda (Assiniboine), Dakota and Lakota (Sioux) Nations’ Fort Peck Reservation, the Fort Peck Dam and spillway transformed northeast Montana’s physical and cultural landscape on a massive scale.
Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Complex: The Power of Perspective
First constructed on a set of natural falls in the Clark Fork River in 1915, the Thompson Falls Hydroelectric complex played a central role in electrification of the Milwaukee Road Railroad and solidified Montana Power Company’s sector dominance.
Séliš Ksanka Ql̓ispé Dam: The Power of Perspective
Séliš Ksanka Ql̓ispé Dam has generated electrical power from the lower Flathead River since 1938 and embodies an enduring conflict between opposing ways of life. Decades of federal assimilation policies targeted Native Americans and set the stage for Montana Power Company to build the 204-foot-high concrete gravity-arch hydroelectric facility within the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwest Montana.
Orientation Videos for Cultural Resources Database Research
View recordings from an informational webinar about Montana SHPO’s Cultural Resources Database Research Fellowship.
Curtis Music Hall, Uptown Butte
The Curtis Music Hall is one of Uptown Butte’s grandest buildings. This Victorian era time capsule on Park and Main has been a dance hall with live music, boarding house, meeting place, saloon, bakery, restaurant, confectionery, and shoe store.
Regis Grocery in Red Lodge, Listed!
Let’s hear it for corner grocery stores! Red Lodge’s Regis Grocery building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 2024.
Montana’s Haunted Places
Paranormal activity in Montana is well documented on the internet. You can also find more than 100 records for haunted historic sites in Montana’s Cultural Resources Database. A search for the term “haunted” produces nearly 100 hits including mines, dams, ranger stations, barns, log cabins, hotels, residences, rock cairns, trails, cemeteries, campsites, fire lookouts, railroads, banks, bridges, battlefields, farms, quarries, and trash dumps.
Ghost signs
“Ghost signs” are the hashtag-friendly term for custom advertisements that were hand-painted onto the sides of buildings. Ghost signs or “brickads” were a popular advertising form from the late-nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries when more disposable sign formats became popular. But decades later, the ghost signs that remain cling tenaciously to the brick thanks to the lead in their oil-based paints.
Westgate Village Shopping Center, Listed!
The 1957 mid-twentieth century Westgate Village Shopping Center represents a mainstay of the Montana State University area and the populace of Bozeman. Designed by Hugo Eck, a locally famous architect and professor at Montana State University, the building represents the first small neighborhood multi-unit retail shopping center built in Bozeman as a response to major post-World War II population and economic growth of the community. The original design of the building, which remains largely intact, included spaces for five business separated by interior common walls, under one roof structure, with a single continuous façade and automobile parking focused on the building.
Head Chief-Young Mule Charge, Listed!
The Head Chief-Young Mule Bravery Charge Site near Lame Deer marks the fateful 1890 event of Head Chief and Young Mule's charge toward the United States cavalry line. The site represents an assertion of Northern Cheyenne nationalism and traditional lifeways in response to genocidal conditions imposed by the United States Government. The site holds Tribal-national significance and is the last place where Northern Cheyenne warriors took up arms against the U.S. Army following the creation of the reservation in 1884. The charge marked the beginning of a socio/geographical transformation whereby the reservation expanded to its current size and white landownership on the reservation extinguished to avoid further hostility and conflict between Indian and non-Indians.
Main Boulder Ranger Station, Listed!
The Main Boulder Ranger Station, constructed in 1908, represents one of the oldest continually operated Forest Service facilities in the nation and exemplifies early CCC-era Forest Service Administration. The Ranger’s Residence/Office, woodshed, root cellar, and rock wall date from the 1908-1929, whereas the barn, machine shed, and two bunkhouses date from the 1930-1945 CCC-era of Forest Service Administration.
Lewis & Clark Co. Hospital Historic District, Addendum and Boundary Increase
The Lewis and Clark County Hospital Historic District Boundary Increase, referred to historically as the Lewis and Clark County Hospital Cemetery or Poor Farm Cemetery was listed as a contributing resource of the previously National Register-listed hospital district, acknowledging its role as part of the hospital’s mission in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.