HomeMy WebLinkAbout34-42 W Main 1985 MONTANA HISTORICAL AND
ARCHITECTURAL INVENTORY Sitea
f Legal Description:. Story' s Lots 9,10,11,Port_i on of 12 I r
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Address, 34-42 West Main _
Grald D. Murray
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Ownership:name: e_. y .. ,
private
_ Fred and Thora Decker, P.0. Box 903 I n a 7� Frame a 20
public address:
T_.... Historic Name• til
T- - - - - --� Common Name: Bon Ton Bakery Building
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Date of Construction: 1886-1890 XJ documentr
Architect: 1928 Fred Willson remodel
'�---� Unknown T ._ "' T Y Builder.- —McrchaTlt & U.S.
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Original Owner. Col .E. F. Ferris, Land Office Offi I
Original Use: Hardware/Imp lement/Printing/Harness_
& Carriages
Present Use:
1 I Pf y" Research Sources:
+ ❑ abstract of title ❑ city directories
❑ plat records/maps ❑ sewer/water permits
LLJ ❑ lax cards ❑ obituaries
—_ ._._a... _` a _ •} 1 ❑ building permit ❑ biographies
7 _ _ t
j-, r -� ' - - Z T Sanborn maps—dales 189171
Bibliography: I
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Department of Sanitation
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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Describe present appearance of structurelsite,then contrast and compare that with it's original appearance, I
noting additions,alterations,and changes in materials. Discuss significant architectural features.
This attached two-story commercial structure in the Mission Style has a square
plan with a glazed ceramic tile base and columns of different colors supporting
the inset entrances to four stores . The facade is symmetrical and consists of i
four glass entrances , each flanked by a large, angled fixed window. The upper
level has four brick-arched windows , with varying pane arrangements. The '
bearing wall construction is finished in brick with stucco finishing and has
a flat roof with two clay tile mansards across the front. The transom glass
above the storefronts appears to be in place behind the signs.
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HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Justify how the persons,important events,and/or historical patterns associated with the structure/site
and surrounding area lend the property significance.
Constructed on the former site of the Hoppe residence, the Bon Ton Building
was originally known as the Ferris Building, and was erected by Sebree,
Ferris & White, hardware and implement dealers , between 1886 and 1890
(Civic Phase) . Soon after its construction , it served as classroom space
for the new Agricultural College departments of Business , Music and Domestic i
1 Schience. In 1928, Fred Willson remodeled the exterior, transforming the ,
brick and iron front into a stuccoed facade with elements of Mission style
architecture, such as red clay tile coping at theparapet and glazed tile
detailing. "Bon Ton Bakery" is set in blue and red glazed tiles over the
corner storefront, and serves as a reminder of Progressive and Nationalization
Phase industrial and commercial activity. The bakery served as a companion
to the flour mill housed in the Fred Willson-designed "Bon Ton Mill" on
North Wallace. Both businesses were owned by Eugene Graf, a Great Falls
entrepreneur whose other Bozeman investments included the Baxter Hotel .
Graf built his own Fred Willson-designed residence at 504 West Cleveland
in 1935.
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This structure is potentially eligible for the National Register because
of its historical associations and because of its architectural significance. I
1
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 structurelsite may demonstrate or yield information about its historic use or construc-
tion. I
t
None.
FORM PREPARED BY: GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
JAf'11ES R. k`,CD0N'ALD ARCHITECTS P.C. _ Acreage: '
Name
Address:
P. 0. E.OX 8163 USGS Quad: �
— —
,-I1E;S0ULA, f/iGNTANA 59807 UTM'S:.__
Date. - _
AUG 1984 REVISED
Matthew A. Cohen
Bozeman, Monona
.,p 11 11 - 1 11 . r- �
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34-42 W. Main
1985 revision
Matt Cohen, surveyor
A 19th century commercial block remodeled in 1928, the Bon Ton Bakery Building
is both an important example of commercial growth associated with the arrival of
the railroad in 1883, and the most elaborate example of the Spanish Colonial
Revival (Mission) style in the district. The building retains extensive glazed
tile and mosaic work along the borders of all four original storefronts , and is
especially notable in the district for its high architectural integrity.
The original builder of the block, Edward F. Ferris, born in northern New York in 1835,
sought his fortune in the west, spending a year in Salt Lake City in 1871 , and 5 years
in Corinne, Utah - then the location of the closest railroad depot to Bozeman.
Under the firm of Sebree, Ferris and White, a general forwarding and transportation
business, Ferris made his way to Montana incrementally, following the state by
state extension of the Utah and Northern railroad. In 1882 he established his
business in Bozeman, probably in anticipation of the railroad, which was to open
the following year - and which was a promulgator of business with which he was
by then well accustomed. According to Alderson' s 1883 guide to Bozeman, Sebree,
Ferris & White first occupied the former Frank Harper blacksmith shop, a small
brick structure built in 1873(237 E. Main St. ) . The company also rented space
in the first floor of the adjacent Osborne Block (229-231 E. Main St. ) ,
completed in 1882, for the Sebree, Ferris & White "Bankinghouse" (Alderson, p.26)
By 1886, Sebree, Ferris & White had expanded enough to warrant major construction.
The Avant Courier reported in that year that the company was "busily engaged
erecting the most extensive agricultural warehouses and sheds in the territory,
and in connection there will build a large, 2-story brick for their store and
hardward business , which may not be erected until next spring. The store,
warehouses and sheds will cover and enclose a block of ground 70x3OO' , extending
from Main to Babcock" (Avant Courier) , May 13, 1886, p. 3) .
While Ferris was at work on these buildings; of which only the brick store
survives, F. L. Benepe was completing his own substantial brick block directly
across the street to the west for his similar "Agricultural Implements" business
(104 W. Main St. ) . From the time of their construction and well into the early
20th century, the two brick blocks stood on their own, separated from the
commercial district to the east by a full , relatively undeveloped block between
Willson and Tracy Aves.
By 1925 Eugene Graff, an entrepreneur from Great Falls, had acquired the
building, and in 1928 hired Fred Willson to remodel it. Willson covered the
corbelled cornice of the Ferris Block with segments of pan and tile roof between
large stucco piers, converted the pared windows of the 4-bay upper floor to broad,
segmental arched windows with red brick trim, covered the walls with stucco and
ornamented them with coats of arms, and covered the storefront pilasters , dados ,
and central entrance to the upstairs with polychromatic glazed tiles. Mosaice
above the westernmost storefront and along the northwestern edge of the
building spell out: "Bon Ton Bakery" - one of Graff' s businesses , companion to the
Art Deco style Bon Ton Flour Mill on N. Wallace Ave. also designed by Willson.
Another of Graff' s business ventures was the Bozeman Community Hotel ,
Incorporated, the corporation responsible for building the Baxter Hotel , of which
Graff served as president from 1929-1960.
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I The Bon Ton Bakery Building is one of four Fred Willson designed buildings in the
district built in or around 1928, and employing similar elements of the Spanish
Colonial Revival (Mission) style - the others being the Baxter Hotel (105 W.
Main) , 17 S. Tracy Ave. , and 23-39 S. Tracy Ave. In addition, around this time
Willson was establishing the style as the theme for the numerous buildings he
designed for the State Agricultural College Campus (Montana State University) .
Note: The Gallatin Chick Hatchery may have been the original occupant of the
brick veneer south wing of this structure, which faces S. Willson Ave. The
wing, c. 1945, has horizontal , rectangular upper floor windows infilled with
glass block - appropriate for the function of a hatchery. (See 24 S. Willson) .
Bibliography
Avant Courier, May 3, 1886, p. 3
Leeson, p. 1121
Alderson, p. 26
Application for Sewer Connection, June 14, 1904, 4 S. Willson Ave. "Ferris Block."
Application for Sewer Connection, December 10, 1925, Eugene Graff, 4 S. Willson.
Fred Willson Job List, 1928, job #2864: "Remodeling Bon Ton Building - Graf
and Pecina - Bozeman. "
Blueprints: "Remodeling, Graf & Pecian Building, Bozeman, Montana" , Sept. 24,
1928, serial 2864.
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Figure 119: The Sebree, Ferris and White building, built in the late 1880s,
once served as a hardware and implement store, as well as temporary 1
classroom space for the new Agricultural College. In 1928 }
the exterior was transformed into a Progressive Phase component
of Main Street, the Bon Ton building. (Photo Courtesy Museum
of the Rockies. )
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Figure 120: The Bon Ton building in 1983, exhibiting Fred WiIIson's Mission
style design of 1928. (Bozeman Historic Resource Survey Photo-
graph. )
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