Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout714 E. Mendenhall 2017 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: 714 E Mendenhall Street Bozeman, MT 59715 Historic Address (if applicable): None Known City/Town: Bozeman Site Number: (An historic district number may also apply.) County: Gallatin Historic Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Original Owner(s): Montana Elevator Company Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: BG Mill Owner(s): BG Mill LLC Owner Address: 23 Annette Park Drive Bozeman, MT 59715-9206 Phone: (406) 587-1997 Legal Location PM: Montana Township: Range: R06E SE ¼ SW ¼ NE ¼ of Section: 07, T2S R6E. M.P.M Lot(s): Lot 1 Block(s): 31 Addition: Northern Pacific Addition Year of Addition: USGS Quad Name: Year: Historic Use: Grain Elevator Current Use: Vacant/Offices Construction Date: c.1928 with subsiquent additions Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov NAD 27 or NAD 83(preferred) Zone: 12 Easting: 497936 Northing: 5058528 National Register of Historic Places NRHP Listing Date: NA Historic District: NA NRHP Eligible: Yes No Date of this document: March 1, 2017 Form Prepared by: ARCHitecture trio, Inc. Address: PO Box 4836 Bozeman, MT 59772 Daytime Phone: 317-917-9042 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: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Other: If Other, specify: Industrial Agricultural Vernacular Property Type: Agriculture Specific Property Type: Architect: Unknown Architectural Firm/City/State: Unknown Builder/Contractor: Unknown Company/City/State: Unknown Source of Information: NA Building Materials: The small grain elevator complex (Feature #1) is constructed of a variety of materials: a steel truss structural framework, four steel storage bins (silos), and secondary storage and work spaces generally of wood frame construction. Currently the structure is clad in vertical ribbed metal panels, unpainted, with some of the ancillary additions sheathed in painted, wide dimensioned cement board siding with 10” approximate exposure. The grain bins (silos) are formed by large riveted steel bands. To the east of the elevator structure is a long, single-story, storage/retail building of wood frame construction clad in metal, ribbed, vertical siding. (Feature #2) The foundations material appears to board-formed poured concrete where visible. Roof structure is generally wood framed with corrugated metal roofing. The eastern addition has a more recently installed standing seam metal roof with snow guards. Architectural Description: Setting/Context The grain elevator complex was sited particularly for its relationship to the adjacent railroad spur running to the south of the building crossing the southeastern portion of the lot. The tracks, constructed c. 1910 by the Northern Pacific Railway (NP), were part of an historic network of spur lines in the neighborhood serving a number of local businesses and industries. While most of the railroad spurs in the area have been removed since the 1970s, the track across this lot still remains, providing service to the Ag Depot grain elevator complex immediately west of this site. The spur, now operated by Montana Rail Link (MRL), connects with the current MRL main line about a mile north of this site. The complex is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of North Broadway Avenue and East Mendenhall Street, just one block north of Bozeman’s Main Street, the primary east-west thoroughfare in the valley and commercial core of the city. (Photo 01) The site is approximately three blocks east of the eastern end of the Bozeman Main Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 Architectural Description Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Immediately to the west of the property is a second grain elevator complex, currently operated as the Ag Depot; this larger elevator facility was constructed c. 1947, and as of 2017 still functions as an elevator, agricultural and coal distribution site. (Photo 02 & 05) To the south across the tracks is a large surface parking lot servicing a modern three-story commercial building and the historic Northern Pacific freight house (c. 1910), now occupied by a bar and restaurant. (Photos 03 & 04) The former freight house, southwest of this property, was once served by the same railway spur that serviced this site. Most other Main Street buildings in the immediate area are of modern construction, though a former Milwaukee Road freight house still exists immediately south of the Northern Pacific building. East of the lot is a new residential development located at the intersection of Mendenhall Street and North Broadway Avenue off Village Downtown Boulevard constructed in the early 2000’s. (Photo 06) The north side of Mendenhall Street currently displays an eclectic, mixed-use streetscape, with vernacular, historic-era single-family residences interspersed with larger, non-historic commercial, industrial, and apartment buildings. Sanborn Maps indicate this area was once densely populated with primarily one and two- story houses on lots approximately 140 feet long by 28 feet wide and serviced by an east/west alley. Only limited contextual integrity remains from the period of the date of construction and the Montana Elevator Company’s height of activity. (Photos 07 & 08) Site Context The site is comprised of a single lot, generally rectangular in form and measuring approximately 250 feet in the east/west direction and 98 feet in the north/south dimension. The total site area is approximately 23,200 square feet or just over a half acre of land. The main elevator structure is sited at the western edge of the lot and comprises about a quarter of the site area. (Photo 09) The later freestanding storage building to the east sits immediately adjacent. A small one-story addition to the west of the main elevator complex is likely non- original, but from the historic era of construction. A small, unimproved parking area services the complex and is located and accessed off East Mendenhall Street and sits just north of the east building. Building Description General MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 Architectural Description Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: The 1928 structure primarily consists of the rectangular form of the elevator complex (Feature #1) which encompasses four (4) grain storage bins (silos), a delivery bay and former scale room, a series of distribution chutes with access platforms, and the loading dock area. The office area sits to the north of the elevator and appears be a later addition or remodel, with date of construction or remodel undetermined (Photo 10). To the west is a linear one story storage addition adjacent to the elevator, but with no apparent physical internal connection. (Photo 11). The east building (Feature #2) is detached but is in close proximity to the elevator structure. (Photo 12). Elevator Structure (Feature #1) The elevator is the primary structure on the site and was constructed in 1928. With a height reaching in excess of an estimated fifty feet, it serves as a landmark at the east end of the City of Bozeman and the east terminus of Mendenhall Street. (Photo 13). While the primary mass of the current structure likely dates from 1928, the facility has seen a series of small additions, remodels, and repairs, using a variety of materials and construction methods. With only minimal documentation available, it is not definitive which building materials may be original and what are from a later period. The main structural form is four stories, rests on an elevated concrete foundation, and has east/west shed roofs flanking either side of the five story elevator tower. (Photo 14). The elevator tower is capped with an east/west gabled roof with rounded apex, also clad in corrugated metal roofing. Generally clad in large, unpainted corrugated metal panels the monolithic gray mass is prominent in the skyline. Few openings pierce the mass with just three large openings including two overhead doors and loading area occur at the first floor. (Photo 14) The upper areas are punched with a small number of other openings, most likely used for ventilation or part of the grain distribution mechanism. In plan, the largest interior space (on the north end of the structure) served as a drive-through grain loading and weighing area. Entered from the east and west, both from a small gravel incline, trucks loaded with grain were weighed and unloaded. A large rectangular concrete formed pit approximately five (5) feet deep held the truck scales (no longer extant). (Photo 15). This space looms three and a half stories tall and is inter-tangled with webbing of steel, wood and sheet metal. (Photo 16). In the southeast corner of the space two of the cylindrical steel grain bins interrupt the rectangular form. A small opening allows movement through the space adjacent to MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 Architectural Description Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: the bins. Vertical steel truss members, equipment and stairs clutter the space and make it barely passable. (Photo 17). The grain storage bins, at the southeast corner of the primary mass, are comprised of wide, smooth steel bands riveted together to create vertical, cylindrical bins. The interior bin diameter is approximately 25 feet. Small doors at the base of the bins provide access to the interior where arriving grains were stored for later distribution. (Photo 18). The four grain bins are approximately three stories in height and are capped with an east/west gable roof with a rounded apex. The roof is clad in corrugated metal with a small rectangular window opening in the east gable end. The window sash no longer exists. The central elevator core space is interspersed with structural members and elevator equipment. A narrow wood open stair leads to upper level platforms for access to equipment, viewing and maintenance. A large shaft sits adjacent to the stairs and is clad in horizontal wood planks. (See photo 19). Two of the platforms, one above the other were only partially accessible. (Photos 20 & 21). The uppermost platform was unsafe for anything more than visual inspection from the metal ladder that provided access. The last space of the primary elevator form is the large loading dock area where materials were distributed to awaiting rail cars on the adjacent tracks to the south. The room is finished generally with flat wood planks and other piecework of varying materials. (Photo 22). This space is also approximately three stories in volume but is also interrupted with a large grain funnel and attached chutes and sheet metal piping. If the adjacent attached structure to the west were at any time accessible from the main elevator, it would have been through this space. Evidence of what may have been an opening occurs at the west wall. (Photo 23). West Addition Attached and adjacent to the west is a one-story addition. While the interior of the addition was inaccessible, the construction and materials suggest it may be a later, historic-era addition. The wood-frame construction is also clad in corrugated sheet metal and capped with a shed roof sloped to the south with exposed wood rafter tails. A shallow, double-sloped roof covers the addition. A lean-to open porch supported by pipe columns is attached to the north elevation and is accessed by an elevated concrete platform through a large opening, now boarded. (Photo 24) MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 6 Architectural Description Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Offices North of the main elevator core is a wood framed, one-story office space comprised of three rooms, closets and a restroom. The exterior is clad in a painted cement board siding with an exposure of approximately 10”. Evidence of earlier metal cladding and ship lapped board siding can be seen in a few areas. A wood framed shed roof covers the space and is capped with corrugated metal roofing. On the interior, one space opens to the next. The southern-most office has two doors leading to the scale area. These spaces are generally finished in drywall and are trimmed with simple window and door casing and baseboard trim. (Photos 25-26). Few windows of a variety of styles provide natural light to the spaces. An upper level appears to occur over office 2, but access to this space was undetermined. This later addition adds another full height floor and is clad in corrugated metal and capped with a shallow single-sloped roof. (Photo 27) East Building (Feature #2) The final component of the complex is a linear building located immediately adjacent and east of the grain storage bins. The building is not physically attached to the elevator and appears to be of later construction, though it clearly dates from the historic era. Also resting on a concrete foundation, this frame structure is one story in height and also clad in metal siding, but of a ribbed form. The roof is comprised of a single gable running east/west with standing seam metal roof, metal soffits and metal snow guards. The north, east and south elevations are punched with windows in a regularly spaced fenestration pattern. Single entry doors are located on the north and east facades. The general appearance suggests this building may have served as a retail venue for the Montana Elevator company. (Photos 28, 29, 30). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 Architectural Description Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: See attachments as follows: Attachment “A” Floor plan diagram Attachment “B” Sanborn Map 1927 Context Attachment “C” Sanborn Map 1927 Site Attachment “D” Sanborn Map 1927 updated to 1943 with Montana Elevator Company on site MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 History of Property Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Located HISTORY OF PROPERTY Historic Overview Agriculture has played a key role in the economy of the Gallatin Valley ever since the first Euro- Americans permanently settled in the area during the early 1860s. While many of the valley’s homesteaders initially focused on supplying vegetable crops to the region’s mining communities, they soon realized that the region’s climate and soil conditions were ideally suited to the cultivation of small grains, and by the end of the decade grain production was a primary economic focus. That and other grains were marketed to the United States Army at nearby Fort Ellis and to nearby towns, although the region’s remoteness and lack of transportation options limited the potential growth of the agricultural economy. This difficulty ended with the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) into southwest Montana in 1882. The arrival of NP gave the Bozeman area its first reliable, all-season transportation corridor, a development that was transformative for the region. This new accessibility spurred population growth and economic development in Bozeman itself, and gave the valley’s farmers a practical and relatively inexpensive method of shipping products to more-distant markets. This greatly strengthened the valley’s agricultural base, while encouraging the local development of businesses focusing on grain wholesaling, processing and shipment — primarily flour mills and grain elevators. Development of the infrastructure needed to support the shipment and processing of Gallatin Valley grain was well underway by the late 1880s, with Bozeman serving as the hub of this commercial activity. The first major facility — and the largest — was a large flour mill and elevator complex developed by the successful Bozeman entrepreneur Nelson Story beginning in 1882, located about two miles north of town at a location suitable for a water-powered mill. The NP almost immediately constructed a spur line to serve the story MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 History of Property Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: operation, while story’s early competitors constructed elevator facilities alongside the existing NP tracks on the northeast edge of town. Spurred by the construction of the railroad and the new businesses it attracted, Bozeman’s northeast neighborhood quickly became the town’s de facto industrial quadrant. Bozeman’s population growth and industrial development continued for the remainder of the 19th century and into the 20th, with an accompanying expansion and stabilization of the valley’s wholesale agricultural economy. By the early 20th century, multiple small elevators existed along the NP main line in Bozeman. Following a pattern seen throughout the Northern Plains, these elevators were relatively small, standard-plan structures, with wood-crib grain bins and lapped-wood exterior cladding. The earliest Bozeman elevators were locally owned and built, though as the 1900s progressed larger regional and national companies began building and operating elevators, as well. The size and geography of Bozeman’s northeast industrial neighborhood changed dramatically during the first decade of the 1900s, with the introduction of competition to the Gallatin Valley railroad scene. The corporate predecessor of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (“The Milwaukee Road”) completed its transcontinental main line across southern Montana in 1909, and a Milwaukee affiliate constructed a branch line through the Gallatin Valley to Bozeman almost immediately thereafter. The new branch traversed the eastern end of Bozeman from south to north, creating the first direct rail access to Bozeman’s primary commercial area. The NP quickly responded to this competitive threat by constructing its own spur line to the East Main Street area, and erecting a new freight house nearly adjacent to the Milwaukee’s Bozeman facilities. This created a new focus for Bozeman industrial activity at the eastern end of Main Street, served by two competing rail lines, and this became the location for much of the town’s early 20th-century industrial growth. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 10 History of Property Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: The next two decades saw the construction of a variety of industrial facilities on the once-vacant land east and north of the NP and Milwaukee freight houses. Reflecting the advance of the automobile age, bulk-oil facilities were prominent in the area, but two substantial grain elevators also appeared, built on adjacent lots just north of the NP freight house and served by an NP industrial spur. The earliest was a 45,000-bushel facility built in 1928 by the Montana Elevator Company, on the southeast corner of Mendenhall and Ida Streets. A second and larger elevator later appeared to the west, along a streetscape that also included various commercial warehouses, petroleum distributers, and other small-scale industrial enterprises. The Montana Elevator Company was perhaps the largest operator of small-town grain elevators in Montana during the first half of the 20th century. Established in Lewistown in 1904, the company apparently built several dozen elevators in Montana grain country over the next two decades, generally using the same wood-crib design that was the standard for the Northern Plains. The company also marketed its own line of animal feeds and other agricultural products, using the “Ceretana” brand name. Montana Elevator remained an independent operation through the 1960s, with its assets later acquired by the Cargill agricultural conglomerate. Montana Elevator locations were particularly associated with Milwaukee Road rail lines in Montana, and the Milwaukee’s Gallatin Valley branch line hosted a number of Montana Elevator sites. The surviving elevators at Menard and Accola, for example, are both former Montana Elevator properties. Montana Elevator’s Mendenhall Street facility was apparently among the later grain elevators constructed by the company, and while the structure’s overall layout and exterior appearance resembled that of earlier Great Plains elevators, the structure reflected period advances in grain-elevator engineering and design. Eschewing the timber-frame design and wood-crib grain bin arrangement of earlier elevators, the Mendenhall Street elevator featured a steel-truss structural framework and cylindrical steel grain bins. Steel-bin elevator MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 11 History of Property Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: designs were developed nationally during the late 1800s and saw only limited use in Montana; nationally, they are seen as a transitional structural form between early wood-crib designs and contemporary concrete elevator structures. Few elevators of this design likely exist in Montana today, though steel-bin grain storage remains common, both at individual farms and at terminal facilities. City directories for Bozeman indicate that Montana Elevator continued operating its Mendenhall Street facility through approximately 1970. The structure saw a number of structural changes over four decades of Montana Elevator ownership, including new exterior cladding and the addition of a smaller, freestanding storage building to the east. (Though undocumented, this building may have been associated with Montana Elevator’s retail retail feed and farm products business.) The dates of these changes are not documented, but their visual appearance suggests that they may have occurred in the 1930s or 1940s. Similarly, the commodities wholesaled at the facility are not documented, though given the valley’s agricultural economy barley may have been a product stored there. By 1971 the Mendenhall elevator was operated by the grain division of Con Agra, Incorporated, later known as Cargill. The facility was unoccupied int he late 1970s, before being acquired by Gallatin Valley businessmen Richard Boylan and Jim Grey, who operated B-G Grain at the site. B-G wholesaled and shipped malting barley produced by local farmers, and operated from the elevator until the mid-1990s. Other businesses — not related to grain production or wholesaling — utilized portions of the facility over the following decade, but the property is now vacant. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 12 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Bibliography “Bozeman’s Last Remaining Grain Elevator Sticks Out Downtown.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, August 29, 2007. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. C.M.ST.P.&P. Condensed Track Profile, Rocky Mountain Division. Chicago: Office of Chief Engineer, 1962. Cohen, Mathew. “Historic Resources of Bozeman, Montana.” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property documentation form, listed 1986. Dunbar, Robert G. “The Economic Development of the Gallatin Valley.” Pacific Historical Review 47:4 (October 1956), 117-123. Frame, Robert M. “Grain Elevator Design in Minnesota.” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property documentation form, listed 1989. Gallatin County Clerk & Recorder. Deeds and other real estate records. Gallatin County Courthouse, Bozeman, Montana. Gallatin Valley Railway Company. “Right of Way and Track Map, June 30, 1918.” Author’s collection. Hoy, William S. Railroad Stations in the Gallatin Area, Montana. Montgomery Village, Maryland: Keystone Press, 1998. “Obituary for Richard Julian Boylan.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, January 8, 2006. R.L. Polk & Co. Bozeman (Gallatin County, Mont.) City Directory.Kansas City: R.L. Polk & Co., 1900- 2001. (Title and publication information varies.) MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 13 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Selyem, Bruce. Old Time Grain Elevators: Stories & Photography of a Vanishing Way of Life. Bozeman, Montana: Headhouse Books, 2007. Showell, Jeffrey Adams. “Chronologies and Corporate Histories of Montana Railroad Lines.” Unpublished manuscript, dated 1988, in Montana Historical Society vertical file, Helena. Sanborn Map Company. Fire Insurance Maps for Bozeman, Montana: 1884, 1904, 1912, 1927, 1943. Smith, Phyllis. Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley: A History. Helena: Twodot Press, 1996. Strahn, B. Derek. “Disappearing Icons.” Unpublished typescript, [2005]. Author’s collection. Strahn, B. Derek. “Northern Pacific/Story Mill Historic District, 24GA1100.” National Register of Historic Places nomination, listed 1996. “Sustainability in Bozeman.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, August 25, 2004. City of Bozeman, GIS Base Maps, USDA FSA Digital Globe, GeoEye, Microsoft, CNES/Airbus DS, https://gisweb.bozeman.net/Html5Viewer/?viewer=maps MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 14 Statement of Significance Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator 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 The Montana Elevator Company elevator is one of perhaps a dozen commercial grain elevators constructed in Bozeman between the 1880s and the 1940. These elevators, nearly all sharing the iconic vertical design characteristic of the structure type, were among the earliest and most ubiquitous industrial facilities in the Bozeman area, and were strong visual reflections of the community’s economic focus on agriculture through the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Collectively, Bozeman’s grain elevators, flour mills, and vegetable processing facilities were key essential components of the Gallatin Valley agricultural economy, while simultaneously providing employment to city residents and indirectly helping shape the community’s historic identity. This importance continued through the middle years of the twentieth century. Except for the large Story Mill complex located north of town, Bozeman’s historic grain elevators all existed in the town’s northeast quadrant, scattered along the network of railway lines and spurs that crisscrossed the area. They were among the larger structures in an eclectic, mixed neighborhood of vernacular residential and small-scale industrial buildings, prominent visual landmarks in the area and important character-defining features in a series of intriguing, Montana urban streetscapes. Three historic grain elevator facilities remain in this Bozeman neighborhood in 2017, with varying levels and aspects of integrity. This facility is one of two that remains much of its historic interior configuration, and that continues to be associated with an historic railway spur line. Although the elevator itself is no longer functional, it retains a relatively strong level of historic integrity overall, and is the older of the MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 15 Statement of Significance Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: city’s two best-preserved elevators. It is also noteworthy for its construction and technology, an early and locally uncommon example of a steel bin elevator design, an engineering contrast from the wood-crib elevators that were far more common in Montana. For these reasons, the Montana Elevator Company grain elevator is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criteria “A” and “C.” The structure is significant under Criterion A for its association with the agricultural history of the Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley, the area’s prime economic force during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Along with the city’s other elevator facilities, the Montana Elevator provided grain wholesaling and warehousing services that were essential to the valley’s agricultural community and the elevators themselves became iconic representations of that industry. The elevator is significant under Criterion C as a well-preserved, characteristic example of a small-town Montana grain elevator facility from the early 20th century. The elevator continues to display an overall massing and spatial arrangement that is highly reflective of the hundreds of small grain elevators that once existed in nearly every rail-served town in the agricultural regions of Montana and the Northern Plains. Once visual landmarks throughout the region, the number of small grain elevators in the state has declined significantly since the middle twentieth century, And this is a strong visual example. Internally, the structure is also significant for itw use of steel structural framing and cylindrical metal storage bins, both relative rarities in the structure type. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 16 Integrity Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) Overall, Bozeman’s Montana Elevator Company elevator appears to retain a good level of historic integrity, although the facility has almost certainly undergone some changes since its construction. The 1943 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map fo the area shows the primary mass of the building in its current location, and with the approximate size and special arrangements that remain evident today. For functional reasons, it is likely that this overall massing dates to the structure’s initial completion in 1927. No documentation exists to document the chronology of modifications to the building, but based on a contemporary visual examination it is likely that some changes occurred, likely during the facility’s first two decades of use. The current metal exterior cladding, for example, may note be original, and the Feature 2 ancillary building to the east is not shown on the 1943 Sanborn map. Other, smaller, changes have likely taken place as well, but based on the structure’s overall visual qualities and condition it is believed that these changes took place prior to perhaps the 1950s. In its current configuration and visual appearance, the structure is probably little-changed from 60 to 70 years ago, and it thus continues to evoke the appearance that it displayed during its period of significance. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 17 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature # 1 Photo: 01 Description: View of Elevator complex, View looking south Feature #: Context Photo: 02 Description: View looking west to AG Depot MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 18 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: Context Photo: 03 Description: View looking west to AG Depot & Montana Ale Works MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 19 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: Context Photo: 04 Description: View looking south to new office/retail commercial with parking in the foreground Feature: Context Photo: 05 Description: View looking west to AG Depot & rail spur. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 20 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: Context Photo: 06 Description: View to southeast to new development including Village of Downtown entrance. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 21 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: Context Photo: 07 Description: View looking northwest to Residential scaled properties MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 22 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: Context Photo: 08 Description: View to new commercial development north of site. Feature: #1 Photo: 09 Description: View north to Elevator complex MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 23 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 10 Description: View south to Elevator complex with office area with blue paint. Feature: #2 Photo: 11 Description: View south to one-story storage addition MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 24 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #2 Photo: 12 Description: View looking west with Feature #2 in foreground Feature: #1 Photo: 13 Description: View to west elevation. Note center tower and flanking shed roofs. Feature: #1 Photo: 14 Description: View to east elevation of elevator complex. Note large overhead door for truck entry. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 25 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 15 Description: Scale area now removed from pit. Office entrances are from doors to the left & center. Feature: #1 Photo: 16 Description: View to west overhead door with pit in the foreground. Note stairs left to elevated platform.. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 26 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 17 Description: Stair to upper platform in foreground. Storage bin 1 in background Feature: #1 Photo: 18 Description: View looking southeast from scale area to storage bins (silos) 1 & 2 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 27 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 28 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 19 Description: Stair to upper platform in foreground. Wood sheathed shaft is located behind stair. Feature: #1 Photo: 20 Description: View at first platform Feature: #1 Photo: 21 Description: Platform MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 29 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 22 Description: Track side loading area Feature: #1 Photo: 23 Description: Possible former access to west addition MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 30 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 24 Description: View looking northeast with one story addition in the foreground, Feature #2 to the right in photo. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 31 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 25 Description: Offices. Right window is to scale area. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 32 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 26 Description: Offices. Left window is to scale area. Feature: #1 Photo: 27 Description: Offices in blue area with second floor portion to left side of photo. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 33 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #2 Photo: 28 Description: south elevation of Feature #2. View looking northeast. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 34 Photographs Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: Feature: #1 Photo: 29 Description: East elevation of Feature #2. View looking west. Feature: #1 Photo: 30 Description: Feature #2 north elevation. View looking south. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 35 Site Map Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 36 Topographic Map Property Name: Montana Elevator Co. grain elevator Site Number: ⃰