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HomeMy WebLinkAbout118 E Main 1985 WONTANA HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL INVENTORY Site» •��- �. LI rtLYi Legal Description: Original Tnurn.gi hP T.nt-c Pnrt-inn of 4 anti 5/Rl k R ^New.- J!� Address: 118 Last Main ROM gwnership:name: First National BankPriv �❑ oublc le address: p.O. Box 730 Roll rY 77 Frame N 33 1 r ^� r_ i T Historic Name: Unknown �JBRARY I` Common Name: Unknown f 1 1 estimated � El 1 Date of Construction: 1872 $1 documented v �_ _ — -_ 1_ Architect: Allen; St. Joseph, NIo—BCrowell, - T -TT ,�) T �-- Crowell, i J I " T Builder; Carpenter—Jamieson Original Owner:N. Ford, Walter Cooper, Cal. Block. W.L. Perkins { Original Use' Commercial Structure Present Use' Commprci al Structure Research Sources: i 1 ❑ abstract of title r, city directories ❑ plat records/maps ❑ sewerlwaler permits W El tax cards ❑ obituaries El building permit 1884 biographies — Sanborn maps—dater. LAI r1 Bibliography: _ L � Q (_ 1 11 i PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Describe present appearance of structure/site,then contrast and compare that with it's original appearance, noting additions,alterations,and changes in materials.Discuss significant architectural features. This attached two-story commercial structure has a rectangular plan with one of the three storefront sections featuring a Carrara glass design by Fred Willson in the Art Moderne style. The asymmetrical facade has three front entrances with storefront windows at street level and the second floor consists of seven bays (originally there were eleven , four having been removed at the western end of the building) each with an arched window. There is brick corbelling and brick arched keystones over the windows , and a small arched window in the cornice frieze above each window bay. The structure is constructed of local brick and sits parallel to the street. A new cornice has replaced the older corbeled cornice and the street level facade , except for the one store with original Carrara glass, has been remodeled beyond recognition. 1 I HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Justify how the persons,important events,and/or historical patterns associated with the structure/site and surrounding area lend the property significance. This property is significant because it is associated with the early commercial development of Bozeman. Built in 1872 , making it the oldest extant commercial block in Bozeman, the building was designed by Allen, an architect from St. Joseph, Missouri, commissioned by Colonel Leander M. Black. Brickwork was done by Crowell and carpenter's work by Jamieson. The first occupants of the fine shapes were Nimrod Ford, Walter Cooper of the Montana Armory, Col. Black and William L. Perkins, all early-day entrepreneurs. When the adjacent bank expanded in the 1970s, these four bays to the west were removed. This structure is potentially eligible for the National Register because of its historical associations and because of its architectural significance. INTEGRITY: Assess the degree to which the structure/site,and surrounding area accurately convey the historical associations of the property. The historic integrity of this property has been retained due to the survival of original design and materials and continuity of use, setting and location. INFORMATION VALUE: Explain how the extant structure/site may demonstrate or yield information about its historic use or construc- tion. None. FORM PREPARED BY: GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Name DAMES R. MCDONALD ARCHITECTS P.C. gc;rFage - — P. 0. BOX 8163 Address: _ _ USGS Quad: - - -Date - MISSOULA, MONTANA 59607 UTM's _ � -- — - - f;U u 1984 REVF' ED Mafit?-,vw A„ Cohen Roz�, 7-a, Montana /lit '- r ,rf-7P"rI-o 1c185 118 E. Main 1985 revision Matt Cohen, surveyor As one of the very first ambitious brick structures in Bozeman, and the earliest remaining commercial block by ten years in the district, the Cooper/Block Building is overall perhaps the single most significant historic building in the district. The building represents the optimism of Bozeman' s early entrepreneurs that the town would, in a region accustomed to "boom-bust" cycles of growth and decline, remain a permanent settlement despite uncertainties about the Indian threat and the progress of the Northern Pacific railroad. In addition to its relevance to the earliest period of Bozeman ' s history, the building displays the only significant example of Carrara glass storefront in the city, designed by Fred { F. Willson. The storefront is one of only three storefronts in the district that 1 date from the 1930' s-1940. The building was reduced in width by about one-third in 1972. Though the Cooper/Black Building has undergone quite substantial alteration since 1872, it nevertheless retains a substantial proportion of its original design. Some of the architectural detailing that has been lost is very similar to detailing found on Frank Harper' s small brick blacksmith shop (237 E. Main) , built in 1873, possibly by the same builder. Originally eleven bays wide, the building was reduced to only seven bays in 1972, when the First National Bank (104 E. Main) expanded to the east, as far as the Cararra glass storefront of what was still Roecher's Drug store. The original , ornate corbelled cornice, very similar to that of Harper's shop, has been removed and replaced by a simple flush brick cornice. The most striking feature which has been lost was an arcade of round headed, key stoned openings, one in each of the eleven bays, that spanned the first floor (The Tivoli Beer Hall , 1881, 17 E. Main, originally had a similar, 4-bay, segmental arvhed arcade, which has also been lost) . Two clues to the original presence of the arcade include the small , round headed blind knee wall windows that once echoed them, (also found on the Harper Shop) , and the round headed, corbelled brick surround of the door to the adjacent Saunders Building (1924, 124-126 E. Main) , certainly intended by architect Fred Willson -to continue the rythm of the first floor arcade of this building. The hood moldings that once capped this 11-bay arcade were very similar in detail to those of the three arched openings of the Harper Shop. This impressive block was erected at a time when Bozeman was emerging as an important supply point for both western immigrants arriving from the east through Bozeman Pass, and for the newly discovered mines of Helena and Virginia City to the west. Five early entrepreneurs collaborated for the construction: Col . L.M. Black, Walter Cooper, Col . Ford, W.W. Morris, and W.L. Perkins. Black, the primary driving force behind the project, arrived in Bozeman in 1869 after moderate success in the Pike' s Peak gold rush a few years earlier, and established a general contracting and merchandise store. He is noted in several newspaper editorials in 1872 for his contributions to the early development of ' ,Inns' �nr�rtn� tny- 7=t`''l i -'•7? In l' "l'C i- ,m '_.1n`, - 1' '1 in Bozeman in the same year, planning an armory and gun manufacturing company. 1 Black and Cooper had shared a frame busines building on the north side of Main St. , between Black and Bozeman Streets, when they solicited other merchants to join them in building an impressive business block. At Col . Blacks insistence, the block, intended to house five businesses, was designed by an architect, named Allen; of St. Joseph, Mo. It was constructed by A. Jamieson, head carpenter, and "executed in the main by Messrs. Crowell " , local brick masons. The brick itself was supplied by W. H. Tracy, who had bought a brick molding machine in February, 1872. Original occupants of the block were: Ford & Patterson' s Meat Market, Walter Cooper' s Armory and Gun Manufactory, W.W. Morris Drag Store, L.M. Black's mercantile business, and a family market run by W.L. Perkins and Mr. Stone. By 1883, according to Matt Alderson, Tate & Smith ran a meat market here alongside Cooper' s Armory, while the upper floor was used as a society hall for Odd Fellows, and for Masons (Bozeman Lodge #18) (Alderson, p. 31) . Ellsworth noted in 1898 that the Montana Armory in this building was run by Mr. Aug. Gottschalck - a native of Germany who came to Montana in 1870, and whose shop was filled with guns and curiosities of all sorts. Roecher' s Drug, which dates back to at least as early as the 1920' s in this building (City Directory, 1927, p. 125) , remodeled their storefront in 1940 - today the westernmost storefront and a well preserved example of Art Deco style Carrara glass design. In the 1930' s, this storefront, which may have been designed by Fred Willson, displayed the first use of neon lighting in the city, in the form of strip lighting for the window display (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, December 27, 1970, p. 6) . Albert C. Roecher had formed a drug store with William M. Alward in the late 19th century, named "Roecher & Alward, Druggists. " Reocher built an impressive brick house around 1900 at 319 S. 3rd Ave. Roecher became the sole owner in 1908 at the death of Alward, and passed the business on to his son, Chester C. Roecher, at his own death in 1938 ( Inventory form, sources undocumented) . Chester C. Roecher was responsible for this storefront which was designed by Fred F. Willson. The drug store operated -here until the 1970' s, and was followed by the Wine Merchant. The space is now vacant. Bibliography Alderson, p. 31 Ellsworth, p. 23 City Directories, 1927, p. 125; 1933, p. 22 Ken Karsmizki , "Bozeman Building a Pioneer Link" , Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 15, 1981, p. 11 Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 'December 27, 1970, p. 6 Fred F. Willson Job List, 1940, job #4025, "Store Front Alt. - Roecher Drug Co. " Application for Sewer Connection, August 26, 1903, George R. Nichols Application for Water Service, April 14, 1902, A.C. Roecher ..�.� , ....'l'rRaYKn•. �\:• ,♦ H `.. �,' _ 1M• !�..♦yam y:` - �.ir R '."S7 0'� ..J �•1,`.�! �,� A � r �y _ K/ ,riJ4l�d11R.. � ��; I '• �_ J'='1:: T' ..1•... - t �'" 11 �V J f'�\ `7�+.r +•ei�a.i�jca• 11 • �• r ,�d T �,�. l '� �1 am _^.. ..,-� '��;�:1.T �'-' `� j 1.• +fin: r� � � s`�T.`'�. � '�ic�_. t • �. from -� (�c 1: flit DpfvV�Etrt� VtN�'�( BSc f-t, Cam.v c G�c�.'�► �� k ;� � �� '''' �' � � �+, �� ��' � ;�Y � p � " . n � lt, ,�� "�—'. k i . �� �. � r , �� .., 1 } , � d � , �� `.. ' �, ' �� ®__ ,} . w � � �� ��° 1 1