316
N. Park Avenue • Now
The City-County Building
Built
on the site of Payne's Hotel • West addition added in 1934
46°35'23.53"N
112° 2'25.08"W
|
A ca. 1895
illustration of the proposed Federal Building. Still standing
strong, it serves today as the City-County Building. It's been
a popular postcard subject over the past century, and was even
pictured on souvenir china. The supervising architect was James
Knox Taylor.
Just prior
to the completion of this building in 1904, the U. S. Post Office
occupied the entire ground floor and the basement of the Power
Block, at the corner of 6th and Main.
|
Payne's
Hotel
|
Payne's
Hotel occupied the site of the Federal Building from 1868 to
1904. Park Ave. was then known as Clore St. In 1872, proprieter
C. L. Payne opened a large stable and corral across Clore St.,
where the Grandstreet Theatre is today.
|
| The footprint
of Payne's Hotel superimposed on a recent satellite image of the
City-County Building. |
Shed
Near Payne's Hotel Was Popular Picnic Spot
Two
Views of the Federal Building When New
COLLECTION
OF KENNON BAIRD • CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A
BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
The
North Side of the Federal Building, About 1909
Park Ave. and
Lawrence St. were then dirt roads.
Circa
1910 View of the West Side
Showing an early Helena ambulance on North Benton Avenue
THE
RAY & PHIL JEZICK COLLECTION
Bronze
Mailbox
PHOTO
BY KENNON BAIRD
| Photo taken
ca. 1985. There were banks of such boxes, in several sizes, lining
the lobby walls. This is an example of the smallest size. |
The Federal
Building on Souvenir China
A souvenir teacup,
ca. 1910. Ware of this sort was usually made in Germany.
Looking
South, ca. 1920
COLLECTION
OF KENNON BAIRD
Mid-1930s
• New Addition
| The large
addition to the rear (west side) of the building was completed
in 1934 at a cost of $320,000 (about $5 million in 2006 dollars).
It is faced with Columbus sandstone quarried in Stillwater County,
the same stone used for the state capitol. In the fall of 1934,
the grounds were plowed up in preparation for the extensive landscaping
of 1935, performed by the State Nursery and Seed Co. of Helena.
The fence was replaced by a hedge of Russian Olive. |
1933
Suicide Leap
John Alanko
1935 Earthquake Damage Not Extensive
Repairs Underway, Nov. 11, 1935
COURTESY
OF THE SEAN LOGAN COLLECTION •
CLICK ON IMAGE TO OPEN A BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
| Damage to
the Federal Building was limited to cracked plaster and shifting
of the housing around the rooftop stack. The ornate doorway seen
on the left is that of the Homer Block, which was razed during
the 1970s Urban Renewal program. |
Stack Under Repair, Nov. 14 1935
COURTESY
OF THE SEAN LOGAN COLLECTION •
CLICK ON IMAGE TO OPEN A BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
California
Seismograph Stays in Helena
| A
more modern and sensitive instrument was installed in Helena in
September of 1936. The old seismograph from Califorrnia was subsequently
exhibited for two days in the display window of Fligelman's department
store on Main Street, |
Main
Entrance of the Federal Building, 1938
COLLECTION
OF TED KIRKMEYER, COURTESY OF TOM
MULVANEY
Morning
on Park Avenue, About 1940
COLLECTION
OF KENNON BAIRD
| In the background
is the ornate Homer Block (1890-1971). This photo was taken in
front of the Bonneville
Apartments. |
Federal
Building from the SE, late 1930s
Photo by Les Jorud
COLLECTION
OF KENNON BAIRD • CLICK ON MAGE FOR A BIG
VIEW IN A NEW WINDOW
| This late
1930s noontime view, taken from the Electric Block, shows the
maturing 1935 landscaping. The Russian Olive hedge was permanently
removed in 1953 as part of a street-widening project. |
A
Dedicated Gardener
| Hugh
Garden (1897-1965) was a native of Scotland, coming to
Helena in 1917 via Atlanta, Georgia. He began work at
the Federal Building in 1933 as a custodian, retiring
as building superintendent in 1960. He was an avid bowler. |
|
Uncle
Sam to Kids: Get Off My Lawn!
|
|
In
1940, citizens complained in the Helena Independent
that the hedge around the Federal Building had grown
so high that only the tallest people could see the grounds;
the hedge also created a traffic hazard, blocking drivers'
vision at the streetcorners. There were also complaints
that there was no sidewalk across the south lawn, requiring
the public to walk an extra distance to the front entrance.
Suggestions were made to create a kind of park on the
south lawn, making the grounds a more hospitable place
than the "island entirely surrounded by stop signs"
it had become.
Today,
the City-Country Building grounds are basically one
big parking lot, with hardly any green remaining.
|
|
A hard
line from Postmaster Wine!
|
The hedge
was never replaced.
|
Blind
Man Operated Vending Stand
Aided by "Panda", Helena's First Seeing-Eye
Dog
| Many baby-boomers
will recall the newsstand in the lobby of the Federal Building,
operated by Richard Gaynor. It was one of ten such stands in Montana. |
|
Richard
Gaynor died in Helena on May 7, 1962, after a "lengthy
illness" (presumably diabetes). He was only 26 years old.
Gaynor is buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Billings.
James Dodson
subsequently took over operation of the newsstand.
|
View
From the Blackstone Apts., 1970s
PHOTO
BY VIRGIE MILLEGAN BAIRD • COLLECTION OF KENNON BAIRD
Note the soon-to-be-demolished red brick Electric
Block on 6th Avenue.
|
Drive-up
Mailbox on Park Ave., ca. 1972
PHOTO
BY KENNON BAIRD
Taken from the
Federal Building steps.
Stairs
Inside the Federal Building, 1970
PHOTO
BY KENNON BAIRD
Federal
(City-County) Building Foyer, 2009
PHOTO
BY KENNON BAIRD
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