The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About706 E Peach St Bozeman MT Historic Property Record MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD For the Montana National Register of Historic Places Program and State Antiquities Database Montana State Historic Preservation Office Montana Historical Society PO Box 201202, 1410 8th Ave Helena, MT 59620-‐1202 Property Address: 706 E. Peach St. Historic Address (if applicable): City/Town: Bozeman, MT 59715 Site Number: (An historic district number may also apply.) County: Gallatin Historic Name: none Original Owner(s): Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: Owner(s): Todd & Amy Hoitsma Owner Address: 702 E. Peach St. Bozeman, MT 59715 Phone: 406-581-1513 Legal Location PM: Montana Township: 2S Range: 6E ¼ ¼ ¼ of Section: 7 Lot(s): 3-4 Block(s): 52 Addition: Northern Pacific Year of Addition: USGS Quad Name: Bozeman Year: 2011 Historic Use: Private Residence Current Use: Un-‐inhabited Construction Date: 1891-1904 Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: unknown UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov/topofinder2 NAD 27 or NAD 83(preferred) Zone: 12 Easting: 497697 Northing: 5059278 National Register of Historic Places NRHP Listing Date: non listed Historic District: NRHP Eligible: Yes No Date of this document: Sept 15, 2013 Form Prepared by: Jim Baerg Address: 223 s. 5th St. Livingston, MT 59047 Daytime Phone: 406-220-1498 MT SHPO USE ONLY Eligible for NRHP: □ yes □ no Criteria: □ A □ B □ C □ D Date: Evaluator: Comments: MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 2 Architectural Description Property Name: none Site Number: ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Other: If Other, specify: Builder/Vernacular Property Type: Residential Specific Property Type: Single Family Architect: None Architectural Firm/City/State: Builder/Contractor: Company/City/State: Source of Information: Arch. Description The subject property is as modest, single story structure of un-distinguished style that cannot be readily classified architecturally. The scale of the building is relatively small. It is approximately 750 sqft in size and sits close to the ground. Interior rooms are quite small, and this is reflected in the massing of the exterior. The building plan is “l” shaped with the long axis running NS. Both wings of the house are single room widths. The gable roof structure has one ridge line running EW at the front (north) end of the building and another running NS. The building is sited within 10 feet of the East property line. The two dominant street side architectural features on the house are a pair of bay bump-outs facing North and West. The two bay bump-outs dominate the front of the house and appear to be over-scaled relative to the size of the building. Each of these bays have two large double-hung windows on the angled walls, but none on the walls parallel to the walls to which they are attached. This window arrangement is unusual but makes some sense from the interior by keeping usable wall space. .One of these bays opens off the living room and faces the street. The other bay is on the NW corner and faces the West. The West side has an attached shed roofed porch. This porch has a door that services the kitchen and serves as the functional entrance to the house. Attached to the South side of the house is a shed roofed room that encloses a bedroom and bathroom. A crawlspace hatch in the bedroom opens up to a small cavity below that holds the water heater. The siding on the lateral walls of this addition is integrated with the rest of the house, but the drop in floor level inside indicates that this room was added after the original construction. On the South wall of this addition a small attached box that appears from the interior to be a sleeping cubicle. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 History of Property Property Name: none Site Number: HISTORY OF PROPERTY There is very little documented history of this house beyond the Sanborn Fire Insurance books, a letter detailing a family that occupied the house during much of the 20th Century and a series of photos from that family. The broad outlines of the development of the neighborhood adjacent to the house on East Peach Street can be seen in the 1891, 1904, 1912 and 1927 Sanborn Fire maps Unfortunately, the 1891 map does not extend to the lot at 706 East Peach. Ida Street carries its original name of Story. The 706 East Peach Street house show up on the January 1904 Sandborn map and is without any outbuildings. Two additional houses occupy the adjacent lots to the East. The main rail line is already in place and serves, via a spur, the Farmers and Merchants Elevator Co. buildings and the Bozeman Storage Warehouse. These facilities are several blocks from the East Peach St. property. Across the train tracks is the original location of the Bozeman Fair Grounds. By 1912 the number of houses on the East end of Peach street has doubled. Additional wholesale storage facilities have been built on the railroad spur line. The September 1927 Sanborn map shows additional agricultural and industrial facilities with a large pea processing facility built across Broadway street to the East. Close to it is a large Continental Oil Co. facility served by a spur line. The 1927-1943 Sanborn shows a new, three sectioned garage on the alley behind 706 East Peach Street. Another small building is located between the main house and the garage. These buildings show up in a photograph dated 1942. A new house has been built between the subject property and Ida Street in that period, but the lots across East Peach Street to the North and across Plum Street to the East, remain vacant. In general more than 50% of the lots in this neighborhood remain vacant. They will be filled up slowly with warehouses and shops over the course of the later 20th Century. Through that period, the house at 706 East Peach Street remains largely unchanged except for the growth of trees and hedges. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: none Site Number: INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1904, 1912, 1927, 1943 Bozeman Water Dept map Aug 11, 1960 Polk Directory, 1922, 1950 etc. Bozeman Historic Resource Survey, 2008 Revised Ed., which has a general architectural history of the North side of Bozeman. Letter from Bozeman’s Historic Preservation Officer describing the available historic documentation & probable history. Family history from Susan Crump in a July 2013 letter. Letter and accompanying family photographs showing the house are attached to this document. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 Statement of Significance Property Name: none Site Number: NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NRHP Listing Date: NRHP Eligibility: Yes No Individually Contributing to Historic District Noncontributing to Historic District NRHP Criteria: A B C D Area of Significance: Period of Significance: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE This building is possibly one of the oldest structures in Bozeman. In an (attached) letter from Susan Crump, dated July 15, 2013, she describes some family history of the home. She says in her letter, “My grandparents, Larance Ray Rice and Jenny Sarah Rice, bought a house located at 706 East Peach Street in 1922……….By my Father’s description, the house was built in 1864. It was originally located on the corner of Main St and Rouse St. The house was later moved to 706 East Peach Street to make room for the Bozeman Hotel. My Father also thought the house was used intermittently as a courthouse.” The 1884 and 1889 Sanborn Maps shows a house with a different footprint on the Bozeman Hotel (built 1890) site. More concrete information of the East Peach building comes from the 1904 Sanborn Fire map, which locates the structure at its present site. The outline of the house on that and subsequent maps matches the current footprint. The house is not on the 1891 Sanborn map, so the construction or move/placement of the building is clearly bracketed by those two dates. A recent owner of the house, Dennis Downing, stated that the building was constructed with square cut nails which would date the house construction to before the late 1880’s when wire nails began to dominate the nail market. This gives some credence to the idea that the house was built earlier and moved to the current site. These clues to the origins of this building, however, are not sufficient to positively date the construction or locate a possible alternative construction site. Because this building is lacks significant architectural features and has no documented connection to important historical development, events or people, it is not possible to ascribe any significant historical importance to it. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 6 Integrity Property Name: none Site Number: INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) The Downing House is located on the periphery of a very old working class neighborhood abutting an industrial district. The mix of residential and industrial uses in the neighborhood continues to the present, with clusters of older, small houses mixed into an increasingly busy industrial area. In this residential backwater, the house has survived through neglect and low property values rather than upkeep, reuse or adaptation. It is one of the few remaining houses in the area to have not gone through a major renovation. In contrast, most of the neighboring houses have been upgraded over the last 3 decades. Most of the historical information about the material condition of the house comes from a series of family photos (attached) from the mid-20th century. The original roof has been replaced with asphalt which is in very good condition. Facia, soffit and siding trim appear to be original and, except for paint flaking, in acceptable condition. No obvious signs of moisture damage is evident. In its current state, it is reasonably weather-tight. From photographic evidence, the original foundation appears to be rubble stone. One family photo dated 1944 shows 4-8 inches of stone supporting the North-West bump-out. In the photo, the stone is flush to the plane of the clapboard siding. The instability of this foundation has resulted in severely sloped floors within the house. The floor of the rear bedroom, approximately 6 inches lower than the rest of the floors, sits even closer to the ground. The foundation is currently covered with a consolidating layer of concrete, which protrudes 4-6 inches out from the plane of the siding this change shows up in a photo dated 1954. 1941and 1945 photos show a wood stoop and wood sidewalk facing E. Peach Street. By 1954, they have been replaced by concrete. The West porch floor is concrete but was poured at a later date than the foundation cover. The original drop siding remained in place as late as a 1945 photo but its condition had significantly deteriorated. By 1954 (possibly 1952) the building, and the neighboring house to the East, has been sided with cedar shingles. It is clear from the reveals that the cedar siding was applied over the original wood siding. The original corner boards, window trim and soffit trim remain. This newer siding is still in relatively good shape except on the lower course where the siding sits tight to the concrete. The windows appear to be original, and are of the single glazed, double hung wood type. The current front door is consistent with an undated photo from mid-century. The interior of the building is surfaced in low quality, worn materials; fiberboard sheathing, paneling and linoleum. Little appears to be original or worth salvaging. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 Topographic Map Property Name: none Site Number: Feature # 1 Facing: NE corner, facing E. Peach St. Description: Exterior Elevation Feature #2 Facing: South West Corner Description: Exterior Elevation MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 Topographic Map Property Name: none Site Number: Feature # 3 Facing: North West Description: Exterior Elevation Feature #4 Facing: South Description: Exterior Elevation MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 Topographic Map Property Name: none Site Number: