The Welcome Ring of Progress
By Jennifer Coons, Sterling Boone and Jenna Copeland
The Welcome Ring of Progress includes items showing the progress of photography and photographers from then and now. Many newer photographs have been captured using cameras from our very own collection. On display, you will find objects such as cameras, movie cameras from various time periods, as well as objects from the Haynes Collection, and more.
As best said by the Avant Courier in its first issue in 1871: “From early dawn till the setting of the sun, the hammer of the builder makes the welcome ring [of] cheerful notes of industry and progress.” Local preservation and pride in area history is evident in these recaptured film photographs. This exhibit was entirely researched, designed, photographed, and created by our dedicated volunteers Jennifer Coons, Sterling Boone, and Jenna Copeland.
This webpage is still under construction, as we will be adding more photos to the description to create a virtual exhibit. To easily find information on this page, please use the “search” function on your computer or smartphone.
Historic Background
Bon Ton Historic District
Bozeman's finest examples of historic residential architecture spanning from the early 1880's to the mid-1930's. The elaborate homes reflect the tastes and aspirations of Bozeman’s economic and cultural elite.
Bozeman Brewery Historic District
The Bozeman Brewery Historic District is composed of five historic buildings that are directly associated with the Julius Lehrkind family and the family-owned-and-operated Bozeman Brewery business.
Northern Pacific/Story Mill Historic District
On March 21, 1883, the Northern Pacific steamed into Bozeman. The Story Mill became the railroad’s first local customer the following year. Dry land farming, crop diversification, and competition between the Northern Pacific and the Milwaukee railroad broadened Bozeman’s agricultural industry in the early 1900s.
Main Street Historic District - 100 Block West Main - 300 Block East Main
John Bozeman recognized the agricultural potential of the Gallatin Valley. At his direction in 1864, William Beall and Daniel Rouse laid out a townsite. A decade later electric street lights, street cars, and the grand Romanesque-inspired Bozeman Hotel urbanized the streetscape.
Bozeman Streetcar Line
The streetcar line began operations on July 27, 1892. In 1910, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad bought the trolley. The streetcar line cost $50,000 to build; it would be another $150,000, a return to local ownership, and seventeen years before the interurban line would begin its service in the valley. The increasing number of automobiles created financial trouble for the line and, when equipment was damaged by a heavy snowfall, the service was closed December 15, 1921.
Exhibit Photographs
1. Main Street
Bozeman’s Main Street Historic District stretches from just west of Willson Avenue to Rouse Avenue.
2. Entrance to Bridger Canyon
Bridger Canyon was named for famed mountain man Jim Bridger. Bridger led immigrants to the Gallatin Valley along the Bridger Trail, which passed on the west side of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming and into the Gallatin Valley through the mountain range north of Bozeman. A fish hatchery was constructed at the mouth of the canyon in 1893.
3. Cooper/Black Building - 118 E. Main
Built in 1872 it is the oldest surviving structure on Main Street. It is named after Leander M. Black and Walter Cooper and is perhaps the single most historically significant structure in the Main Street Historic District.
4. McAdow Residence/Western Cafe Originally the home of P.W. McAdow and then D.E. Rouse and wife in 1871, this photograph is dated April 1875. The building is currently one of the last remaining earliest residential structures in Bozeman.
5. Samuel Lewis House - 308 S. Bozeman
Samuel Lewis, a builder and barber, was an immigrant from Haiti who settled in Bozeman in the mid-1860s. The original house was built in 1881 as a simple frame house. In 1889 he remodeled the house into the current two-story brick Queen Anne.
6. Tivoli Beer Hall - 17 E. Main
William Beall was both designer and contractor of the Tivoli Beer Hall. The Italianate style building originally featured four arched entries and an upstairs porch spanning the front. By 1910, John Fechter managed the Tivoli.
7. Avant Courier Building - 1-3-5 E. Main
Constructed in 1879 and remodeled in1881, its original use was as a post office and grocery store. The building was home to the Avant Courier newspaper during the late 1800s to early 1900s.
8. John Fechter in Automobile
John Fechter, proprietor of the Tivoli Saloon on Main Street, was born in Germany in 1877. Fechter was a well-known local musician and served as director of the Bozeman City Band. Fechter is seen pictured here in front of the building in his automobile.
9. Spieth and Krug Brewery Maxey Block - 242 E. Main
Partners Jacob Spieth and Charles Krug founded Bozeman’s first brewery here along the banks of Bozeman/Sourdough Creek in 1867, laboriously grinding the first grain in a coffee mill. They replaced their first frame brewery in 1883 with the brick one currently standing on the same site.
10. Explosion Block/Laclede Hotel
On March 5, 2009, a natural gas explosion rocked downtown Bozeman. Tragically, one person was killed. The initial blast and resulting fire destroyed several historic buildings on the north side of Main Street east of Bozeman Avenue. The Laclede Hotel, built circa 1870, anchored the west end of this block until it was eventually replaced by the new Montgomery Ward Company building in 1928.
11. Stockyard Cafe
The Stockyard Café was constructed circa 1938 and was part of the Gallatin Valley Auction Yards complex adjacent to the Story Mill. The restaurant served area ranchers and townsfolk until it closed its doors in 2017.
12. Story Mill
Known early on as the “Egypt of America,” the Gallatin Valley was renowned for its grain production and flour mills. Nelson Story, Sr. constructed the original milling complex in 1882, along with a canal system to provide waterpower. The operation soon became one of the largest in Montana in the 1880s—capable of producing one hundred bushels per day. The original mill burned down in 1901, but was rebuilt by Nelson Story’s son, Thomas Byron Story. Montana Flour Mills purchased the complex in 1919 and continued operations. It was sold to ConAgra in 1967 and the milling operations were permanently shut down.
13. Gallatin Lodge #6 - 137 E. Main
Chartered in 1866, Gallatin Masonic Lodge No. 6 built this brick corner block in 1883. It was the grandest of several buildings erected during the early 1880s following the arrival of the railroad. The horse sign was installed in 1968.
14. Nevitt Block/AMC Photo - 107-113 E. Main
The Nevitt Block was built by William Nevitt in 1888. He housed his hardware store here and operated it for 25 years. The building was later home to AMC Sullivan Photo.
15. Bon Ton Bakery/Sebree, Ferris & White Building - 34-42 W. Main
Constructed 1886-1890 and originally known as the Ferris Building, this location was remodeled in 1928 by Fred Willson. The bakery served as a companion to the Bon Ton flour mill.
16. Bozeman Opera House
The Bozeman City Hall and Opera House was completed in 1890 and housed city offices, the fire department, the police department, a theater, and the city library. For decades, the second-floor opera house hosted concerts, variety shows, graduations, plays, and even the first motion picture screenings. A new city hall building was constructed across Main Street in 1965, and the old City Hall and Opera House building was demolished in 1966. Today, the Soroptimist Park occupies this lot.
17. Tilton Building - Rouse and Main Looking West
The Tilton building was constructed by merchant John Tilton in 1889 on the northeast corner of Main Street and Rouse Avenue. The impressive structure complemented the Bozeman Hotel and the Bozeman City Hall and Opera House, located on two other corners of the intersection. The Tilton building was demolished in 1963 to make way for the new Bozeman City Hall building constructed on the site.
18. St. James Episcopal Church and Rectory - 9 W. Olive
St. James was designed by George Hancock of Fargo, North Dakota in 1890-91.
19. Bozeman Hotel and Annex - 307-321 E. Main
When Montana achieved statehood in 1889, Bozeman was more cow town than cosmopolitan. Designed by architect George Hancock of Fargo, North Dakota, the Hotel Bozeman and its two-story annex were completed in 1890. Two original stained glass transoms remain intact. Bitter cold was no deterrent in March 1891 as a jubilant, elegantly attired crowd of 500 gathered to celebrate the opening of Bozeman’s first-class hotel. Inside, modern amenities included steam heat, fire escapes, call bells, a formal dining room, an elevator, and a ladies’ parlor.
20. Northern Pacific Railroad Roundhouse and Depot - 829 Front St.
The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Bozeman in March of 1883 marked an extremely important watershed in the historical development of the Gallatin Valley. Following a devastating fire at the original depot in 1891, this depot and office was completed in 1892. The depot was, quite literally, a major portal through which the history of the Bozeman area flowed.
21. Lehrkind Brewery and Mansion - 802 & 719 N. Wallace
High quality water and plentiful barley grown by Dutch settlers near Manhattan brought Julius Lehrkind, his large extended family and crew of brewery workers to Bozeman in 1895. As brewing technology improved and world lager production tripled, the Bozeman Brewery prospered turning out 40,000 barrels of beer annually and distributing malted barley to breweries statewide. The Lehrkind family’s two and one half story Victorian-style home was constructed in 1898. Outbuildings include a carriage house.
22. Montana Hall - MSU
Main Hall (Montana Hall) was built between 1896 and 1898. Designed by German-born architect J. C. Paulsen of Helena, it was the third major brick clad building constructed on campus. The building occupies the site originally intended for the State Capital.
23. Roecher House/Roecher Drug - 319 S. Third
Albert C. Roecher, longtime druggist, built and lived all of his life in this home. Built circa 1900 it is one of Bozeman’s finest homes. It was designed by A.J. Skovmore.
24. Carnegie Library - 35 N. Bozeman
The Bozeman Classical Revival landmark was constructed to meet the needs of a growing population and elevate the moral character of the community. Architect C.S. Haire designed the library to resemble an ancient temple.
25. National Bank of Gallatin Valley - 1 W. Main
Constructed in 1906 this is an impressive Neoclassical edifice. Solid construction and two-story high fluted Roman Doric columns lend a visual symbol of financial strength that this bank, ironically, never possessed.
26. Spieth Electric Interior
William Spieth's Electrical Wiring and Supplies store was located on the north side of Main Street between Bozeman and Black Avenues. William Spieth’s father, Jacob Spieth, partnered with Charles Krug to form the Spieth and Krug Brewery in Bozeman in 1867.
27. Spieth Houses - 204 N. Bozeman
The Spieth Homes were built by members of the Jacob F. Spieth family. Jacob Spieth was an immigrant from Germany and part owner of the Spieth & Krug Brewery on Main Street. Members of the Spieth family occupied both homes next door to each other into the 1920s.
28. Golden Rule Building - 7 W. Main
Built in 1906 by O.W. Fisher & Sons, the building was sold in 1910 to J.R. Chambers who operated Chambers Fisher Department Store.
29. Gallatin State Bank - 2 W. Main
Designed and built by J.R. Scahill in 1908, this well-ornamented Neoclassical corner block features a quarter round corner entrance. It features granite columns and a medallion “GSB.”
30. Rialto Theater- 10 W. Main Built in 1908 for use as offices, shops and to house the post office, the building became the Rialto Theater in 1925.
31. Burr Fisher House/Men’s Co-op - 712 S. Willson
Built in 1909 and designed by Fred F. Willson, this home was an early example of the Mission Revival style Bungalow. In 1939 it was named the Men’s Co-op by the MSU College Student Housing Association.
32. T. Byron Story Mansion - 811 S. Willson
Built in 1910, the Thomas Byron Story mansion and carriage house were designed by renowned architect C.S. Haire, known for his work on the Montana state capitol addition. The T. Byron Story house, later occupied by the SAE Fraternity, ranks among the most elaborate historic houses in Montana.
33. Gallatin County Jail - 317 W. Main
This castellated medieval-style building was completed in 1911 and designed by local architect Fred Willson. In order to securely transfer prisoners, a tunnel was later added connecting the jail with the Gallatin County Courthouse next door.
34. Bozeman Steam Laundry/Gallatin Laundry Company -137 E. Babcock
Originally, Bozeman Steam Laundry was located at the corner of Rouse and Mendenhall and was one of the first steam laundries in Montana. In 1917, this structure burned and local artictect Fred F. Willson designed the building on E. Babcock Street which opened in January 1918. Before the business closed, it was the oldest business in Bozeman owned and operated by the same family.
35. Gallatin Valley Seed Company - 209 S. Wallace
The Gallatin Valley Seed Company was established in 1913. During the 1930s, the pea industry was a dominant agricultural business in the Gallatin Valley.
36. Fechter Hotel and Annex - 128-130 E. Main Local architect Fred Willson designed the Fechter Hotel and Annex for saloon-keeper John Fechter. The building was completed in 1918.
37. Deaconess Hospital and Sanitarium - 15 W. Lamme
Dr. Henry Foster arrived in Bozeman in 1892. In 1896, Foster built the Bozeman Sanitarium. The Methodist Deaconesses, together with the community, purchased the hospital in 1911. A new hospital was constructed next door to the old Sanitarium in 1920. The new Classical Revival detached three-and-one-half story hospital, designed by Fred Willson, had an irregular plan with 4 large Roman Doric columns supporting the raised two-story porch with an ornamental cornice and a flat roof.
38. Ellen Theatre - 17 W. Main The Ellen opened in December 1919. It was named for Ellen Trent Story and built by her sons and designed by Bozeman architect Fred Willson. The two-story Beaux Arts style building features elaborate terra cotta decoration.
39. Commercial National Bank-104 E. Main
This property is significant because it is associated with Bozeman’s early financial history. Founded in 1892 as the Commercial Exchange Bank, it is the oldest remaining bank in Gallatin Valley. The present building was constructed in 1920 and was designed by Fred Willson. The exterior was remodeled in 1972 and is currently being restored to its original exterior design.
40. Baxter Hotel - 105 W. Main
Recognizing the need for a luxury hotel, Bozeman businessmen joined together in a collaboration that still remains, nearly a century later. This hotel is likely Bozeman’s most iconic building along historic Main Street and one of Fred Wilson’s most significant designs. The Hotel Baxter opened on March 2, 1929.
Walter Cooper Residence
The location of the Walter and Miriam Skeels Cooper home was the location chosen for the impressive Baxter Hotel. The one-and-one-half story High Victorian Gothic residence (pictured here) was demolished to make room for the hotel.
41. Alexander Art Company - 17-19 S. Tracy
Bozeman’s premier architect Fred Willson designed this double storefront building with three apartments upstairs in 1928. This Spanish Revival style building has grouped, hood-molded windows and ornamental rosettes. It was home to Dixon’s Paints and Alexander Art Company.
42. Bon Ton Flour Mill - 611 N. Wallace
In 1932, Eugene Graf established the Bon Ton Flour Mill to process flour for his bakery interest. The mill was designed by Fred Willson.
43. Graf Residence - 504 W. Cleveland
Fred Willson also designed Eugene Graf’s residence. The home was constructed in 1935 to resemble a German castle. Graf was the owner of Bon Ton Bakery and Flour Mills. Historic photograph by B.H. Alexander.
44. Gallatin County Courthouse - 301 W. Main
Bozeman architect Fred Willson designed the courthouse in 1933. This regional landmark, completed in 1936, was one of Willson’s most significant contributions to the city of Bozeman.
45. Bozeman Armory - 24 W. Mendenhall
The Bozeman Armory was built in 1941 as a response to Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. Designed by Hugenin & Associates, whose resident architect was Fred Willson, the Armory is made of reinforced concrete exhibiting Art Deco elements.
46. Willson School
The original red brick Gallatin County High School expanded to the west in 1936/1937, with the construction of an impressive Art Deco and Streamline Moderne style building. Fred Willson designed the new high school, and it was renamed Willson School after his death in 1956.