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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9 W Olive Register NominationMONTANA HISTORICAL/ARCHITECTURAL INVENTORY #13 HISTORIC NAME: ADDRESS: LEGAL BOUNDARY; OWNER'S NAME: OWNER ADDRESS: SPECIFIC DATES: ARCHITECT: BUILDER: ORIGINAL OWNER; ORIGINAL USE: PRESENT USE: UTM REFERENCE: ACREAGE: U.S.G.S. QUAD: St. James Episcopal Church and Rectory 9 West Olive Alderson's, Blk A, lots 7-10 St. James Parish 5 West Olive, Bozeman 1883, 1889 Church: George Hancock Church: James S. Campbell St. James Parish church and rectory church and rectory 12/497140/5058020 less than one Bozeman, 1953 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Applicable Criteria: A and C Areas of significance: social history, architecture Number of Contributing Properties: 2 The St. James Episcopal Church and Rectory are significant for their association with the early social history of Bozeman. The church is also significant as a fine example of ecclesiastical architecture designed by the regionally important architect George Hancock of Fargo, North Dakota, who had opened a branch office in Bozeman during the late 1880's. The Episcopalian congregation was one of the first to gather in the young settlement of Bozeman during the 1860's. Thirty-year-old Daniel Sylvester Tuttle became the Episcopalian bishop assigned to Montana, Idaho, and Utah in 1867 and took five missionaries, one of which came to Bozeman. In July of 1868, Bishop Tuttle held services in Bozeman in Methodist Church on Main Street. In 1869, Tuttle mentioned in a letter that he had secured a lot for the construction of an Episcopalian church in town. In 1876 the wood frame, board and batten, St. James Church was completed. Bishop Tuttle, who visited annually from his headquarters in Salt Lake City, wrote that "at Bozeman, Reverend Mr. Dickey is in an absolutely new mission and is stated as doing excellently. He has a church built, having done largely the work upon it himself.n Construction began during the early 1880's on the large brick rectory, which was completed in 1883 at a cost of $3400, on the two lots to the west of the frame church building. The rector and his family had previously lived in a small house that stood just north of the church. The date of construction of the rectory corresponds with the year of the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Bozeman, and may reflect the new wealth of the church congregation members resulting from it. During the early years, the congregation made some wise land investments in Bozeman, the profits from which would later be used as the nucleus of the building fund for the present stone church. One early purchase involved five lots located at the corner Main and Church Streets, which were noted in an account by Reverend Frank Bradley Lewis in which he said the lots were bought from Mr. E.A. Rouse for $25 each, and sold after the railroad came in 1883 for $2500. The money was loaned at 12% until it was needed. At the start of construction of the new stone church, the building fund had accrued $6100. The new, stone St. James Episcopal Church would cost about $11,500. The ground for the new church at the corner of Tracy and Olive was broken September 13, 1889. The plans were obtained from Mr. George Hancock of Fargo, North Dakota. Mr. James S. Campbell served as the general contractor, and the stonework was let to Mr. Nathaniel McConachie of Perham, Minnesota, sublet to the local firm of Craig and Freeman. On May 8, 1890, the cornerstone was laid. The bell, a gift from Mrs. W.J. Beall to the congregation in 1883 that had been erected on a free standing platform in front of the original frame church, was installed in the high, stone bell tower. Services were held in the new church in October, 1890. A newspaper account of that time stated: "The new church is of Gothic architecture, grey sandstone from Rock Canyon, pointed with blue mortar. It is 80 feet long by 30 feet wide, with a copper cross whose top is 80 feet from the sidewalk. Each of the main gables, which are 40 feet high, has upon it a stone cross of beautiful design and fine workmanship. The inside finish of the church is worthy of the outside. The wings are cathedral glass, with opalescent pieces dispersed through them. The colors of the glass are not strong, but soft and well blended. The roof is supported by trusses bolted together. The panels between trusses and purlin plates are finished with selected Norway pine, all inside work is finished in oil and natural colors. The side walls and gables are plastered. The furniture is of solid oak." In 1939 the church interior was refurbished, which generally included refinishing and recarpeting. In 1944, renovation of the vestibule took place, and new doors were installed. In 1913, a new Estes organ was installed, which replaced the old 1890 organ. The stone addition to the northwest corner of the church, called the Chapel of the Resurrection, was built in large measure by the men of the church. The chapel was designed by Ms. Dorothy Miller of Bozeman, who also executed the carvings and paintings found within the building. It was consecrated on November 30, 1940. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The St. James Episcopal Church has a cruciform plan with a bell tower at the southeast corner and an arched entrance at the base of the tower. The main doorway is composed of a pair of 8-panel doors with wooden infill above in the Gothic arch opening. Windows are fixed stained glass, with plexiglass storms, set in Gothic arched openings along the east and west elevations and in a rose window in the center of the gable end of the main (south) facade. Stone butresses are set between each set of windows on the east and west elevations. There are tall arched openings in the bell tower. The bearing wall construction is finished in cut sandstone and rests on a cut stone foundation. Sandstone coping was used on the gable wall ends and the steeply pitched gable roof is covered with grey asphalt shingles. Black shingles were used on the witch's cap bell tower roof. The axis of the main roof parallels So. Tracy Ave. In 1940 a chapel of cut stone was built onto the northwest corner of the church. The chapel is one-story and has Gothic arched, leaded clear glass windows. The north wall of the chapel, facing the alley, is finished in brick. The chapel is of compatible design and materials and does not detract from the historic architectural integrity of the 1889 church building. The rectory, located on the adjoining lot to the west of the church, predates the stone church by approximately six years. This detached one-and-one-half-story, single family, brick residence has an irregular shape and a half-hexagonal bay window on the front (south) facade. The tri-gable, sidehall plan house was originally built in a transitional Italianate/Queen Anne style, with two small porches, one at the front and the other at the east ell, and Italianate style cornice abov« the bay window. The building was remodeled ca. 1930, and the early decorative features vere removed and replaced by simple, Colonial Revival detailing. The entire building was covered in stucco at this time. The small porches were removed and Colonial Revival door surrounds were installed. Windows are four- over-six and nine-over-one double hung units, with arched decorative trim above. The gable roof is covered with brown asphalt shingles and features overhanging eaves, as well as two brick chimneys, one covered with stucco. A brick and frame, garage/apartment addition to the rear (north) of the rectory, while non-contributing, does not seriously detract from the overall historic architectural integrity of the rectory, which, despite the 1930's remodelling, still possesses historic design characteristics that serve to recall its original and present use in association with the church. BIBLIOGRAPHY: "Eighty Years: 1868-1948, St. James Episcopal Church, Bozeman, MT., Eightieth Anniversary Committee, published by the church, 1948, pp. 23-24. Fred Willson Job List: 1943, Job # 4333, Alteration to sanctuary, Episcopal Church, Bozeman. Avant Courier. June 12, 1883 Bozeman Chronicle. April 31, 1983 FORM PREPARED .BY: James R. McDonald, P.C. (1983-84); Matthew Cohen (1985-86 revision); Patricia Bick (1987 revision), State Historic Preservation Office, 225 No. Roberts, Helena, Montana 59620 (406) 444-7715 Roll*Frame ti 32-32 Roll f 79 Frame f '$] -3]