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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRR Grade-Gallagator TrailSmithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/11 1. IDENTIFICATION 1.1 Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update 1.2 Field Designation: 1.3 Project Name: Bozeman WaterSmart Project 1.4 Agency Project Number: 1.5 Consultant Project Number: 2. LOCATION 2.1 Township/Range: T2 S, R6 E, Section ; ¼ Section(s): 2.2 County: 2.3 UTM Coordinates: Zone 12 E m; N m, Additional UTM's E 496987.8 N 5056769.9 Beginning E 497913.2 N 5058393.4 End Datum used: NAD 83 conus 2.4 Administrative/Surface Ownership: Bozeman. MT 2.5 7.5’ USGS Map Name, Date: Bozeman, Montana (Provisional Edition 1987) 2.6 Narrative of access: The railway grade is the Gallagator Linear Trail and crosses Church Avenue south of East Main. The historic railway grade is on both sides of Church Avenue and passes through Ice House Park and Burke Park. 2.7 Vicinity of (city/town): Bozeman, Mt 3. DESCRIPTION 3.1 Site Type: Historic Railway 3.2 Site Time Period (use dropdowns): Prehistoric: Historic: Historic More Than One Decade Paleontological: Combination: Unknown: 3.3 Narrative Description of Site: The site is the Gallatin Valley Railway. One abandoned railroad grade was observed within the project area. The grade dates to circa 1909-1910. (See the Historic Sites section below for more detail) 3.4 Site Dimensions: Surface visibility: 3.5 Feature Descriptions: See the Historic Sites section 3.6 Artifacts: (!all that apply) Chipped Stone Wood Ground Stone Ceramics Bone Trade Other Description: 3.7 Diagnostic Artifacts: 3.8 Subsurface Testing: Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/2011 3.9 Site function/interpretation: Historic Railroad 4: ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING 4.1 Geographic Setting: Intermountain valley 4.2 Contour: Known Approximate Unknown 4.3 Elevation: 4840 ft 4.4 View/Aspect: northeast and south west, 1000 feet 4.5 Sediments: Blackmore silt loam Deposition: Surface Only Buried Only Surface and Buried Redeposited Other 4.6 Available Water Source: Stream/River/Creek 4.7 Major River Drainage: Bozeman Creek, 0 ft, 4870 ft asl 4.8 Minor Drainage: S/A 4.9 Local Vegetation: Other (Farmland, Cultivated) Mixed lawn grasses Regional Vegetation: Other (Farmland, Cultivated) wheatgrass, cottonwood 5. ASSESSMENT, RECORDING & MANAGEMENT 5.1 Significance: The site as a whole is significant for its role in the economic development of the Gallatin Valley, iincluding Bozeman, Gallatin Gateway, Three Forks and Belgrade. 5.2 Condition/Integrity: The site retains integrity of location. It has lost integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The remnant of the abandoned railroad grade within the project area is no longer able to convey its historic character. 5.3 Possible impacts to site: Trail maintence 5.4 Evaluation: Does this property meet National Register criteria for eligibility? Yes No Unevaluated Evaluation Procedures/Justification: The site has been previously determined NRHP eligible under Criterion A. However, the site has lost integrity as a historic railroad grade within the project area. Houses, landscaping, roads and other urban development has severely degraded the site and obscure its historic character at this location. It is therefore recommended that the portion of the railway grade within the project area is a non-contributing segment of the site. However the bridge dates to 1909 and represents one of the few remaining examples of the original infrastructure of the line. Therefore the bridge is recommended as a contributing element of the site. 5.5 Recording status: surface examination photo map subsurface tested 5.6 Recommendations (use dropdown): No Further Work Comments: 5.7 Site Located by: Jon Axline Date Located: May 1, 1998 5.8 Site Recorded by: Jon Axline Date Recorded: May 1, 1998 5.9 Site form update and revisions by: Scott J. Wagers Date Updated: November 8, 2016 Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/2011 5.10 Federal/State Permit No: 5.11 Publication(s)/Report(s) where site is described: Wagers, Scott J. Bozeman WaterSmart Project: A Cultural Resource Inventory in Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana 5.12 Artifact Repository: N/A 5.13 Field notes/maps/photos repository: Ethnoscience, Inc. 6. DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC SITES 6.1 Property boundaries: : estimated XX : measured Boundary justification: Linear feature 6.2 Physical description of buildings/ structures/ features; dates of construction and major alterations; contribution of building/ structure to property significance: The site is the Gallatin Valley Railway. One abandoned railroad grade and an associated bride were observed within the project area. The grade dates to circa 1909- 1910. The site consists of an abandoned railroad grade in Ice House Park just west of Church Avenue and in Burke Park east of Church Avenue. The grade has been adapted as a walking trail known as the Gallagator Linear Trail. The trail west of Church Avenue is covered with sand and light gravel and measures approximately 10 feet wide (Photo of grade to the west of the street). The grade east of Church Avenue is paved with asphalt and measures approximately 10 feet wide (Photo of grade to the east of the street). The railroad grade west of Church Avenue measures 18 feet wide at the top and 50 feet wide at the base. The grade averages 5 feet high. The grade east of Church Avenue has been obliterated by the construction of the walking trail which is flush with the ground surface. Feature 1 is a 2-span timber frame bridge that spans Bozeman Creek. The bridge deck is 56 feet in length and is 13 feet wide. The bridge deck is overlain with a combination of 2x6 and 3x10 wood planks oriented east-west. The wood planks are overlain onto north-south oriented railroad ties. The bridge deck is supported by 2 sets of 3 timber stringers. The stringers rest upon 3 timber bent caps that measure 14 inches by 14 inches by 14 feet. Each of the 3 bent caps is supported by 5 14 inch in diameter piles. Both the east and west ends of the bridge deck rests upon by a timber-framed abutment each with a pile bent to support the stringers. The main bridge structure appears to be original to the construction of the railroad grade. The wood plank railings that flank the bridge deck are a modern addition to the bridge and would date to 1989 when the Gallagator Trail was developed by the city of Bozeman. 6.3 Artifacts observed, collected: None 6.4 Subsurface Testing Methods and Results: None Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/2011 6.5 Historical Information and Context (footnote sources): Early in 1909 the firm of Westinghouse, Church, Kerr and Company (WCK 1909) conducted an on-the-ground inspection of the proposed Gallatin Valley Electric Railway route between Bozeman and Salesville. They issued a report that estimated the total cost of construction of the proposed 12.5 mile line would be $285,000. The report noted that in constructing the line one stream will have to be crossed in Bozeman and a bridge would need to be built (the only stream crossed by the line in Bozeman is Bozeman Creek). The estimated cost of the all the bridges along the line, including the one in Bozeman, would be $5400. The projected annual gross earnings from transporting passengers, freight, and express mail would total $122,000. Total annual expenses were estimated to be $60,000 (this was mostly the cost of electricity), for an estimated annual net profit of $62,000 (WCKC 1909: 21-23). In 1909, based upon this report, the 12.5 mile long electric rail line was constructed from Bozeman to Salesville (now Gallatin Gateway) via Bozeman Hot Spring (Milwaukee Road Archives 2015:154). The line was somewhat unique in Montana because it was developed as an interurban railroad through the well settled Gallatin Valley rather than as an access for settlers to undeveloped agricultural land (McCarter 1992:83). The company was reorganized as the Gallatin Valley Railway on September 9, 1910. The Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway (C.M.&P.S) built a line from Three Forks to Bozeman Hot Springs in 1910. The C.M.&P.S then purchased the capital stock of the Gallatin Valley Railway in 1911. Operating as the Gallatin Valley Railway, a line was built to Belgrade in 1911, and a line from Bozeman to Menard in 1912 (Milwaukee Road Archives 2015:154). The C.M.&P.S transferred its Gallatin Valley Railway stock to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee Road) on September 24, 1912. The Gallatin Valley Railway was a standard gage railroad that used 60 and 65 pound rails set on ties made from Western Fir (Milwaukee Road Archives 2015:156). By 1914 the railroad operated 76 miles of track, of which 12.5 miles from Bozeman to Salesville was electric. The remaining 63.5 miles of line relied on steam power. It maintained combination freight and passenger depots at Manhattan, Camp Creek, Bozeman Hot Springs and Salesville, smaller depots at Spring Hill and Menard, and passenger shelters at the less important sidings. It had a concrete freight house and a brick passenger depot at Bozeman. The engine house, car barns, sub-station and other railroad maintenance facilities were also located in Bozeman. The route operated as the Gallatin Valley Railway until December 31, 1918, when it was absorbed into the Milwaukee Road. The Milwaukee Road sought to increase passenger traffic on the Gallatin Valley line when it built the Gallatin Gateway Inn at Salesville (renamed Gallatin Gateway) in 1927 (McCarter 1992:83). The Inn served as the Milwaukee Road access point for Yellowstone National Park. The electric service from Bozeman to Gallatin Gateway was discontinued in 1930. Passenger service declined steadily after 1945, and was discontinued in the 1950s. Freight service continued on most of the line until 1977. The line was officially abandoned on May 8, 1978. The tracks and equipment were removed soon after. The abandoned railroad right-of-way in the project area was sold in 1985. Portions of the railroad grade in Bozeman were adapted into the Gallagator Linear Trail in 1989. 6.6 Sources, files, people consulted: Fandrich, Blain and Doug Davidson West Kagy Boulevard: A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory in Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana. Prepared by Ethnoscience, Inc. for Sanderson Stewart. McCarter, Steve 1992 Guide to the Milwaukee Road in Montana. Montana State Historical Society, Helena. Milwaukee Road Archives 2015 Gallatin Valley Railway, Valuation Sections Montana 1, 2 and 3. Electronic document, https://milwaukeeroadarchives.com/Construction/GallatinValleyRailway.pdf, accessed November 10, 2015. Swett, Ira L. 1970 The Gallatin Valley Electric Railway. In Interurban Magazine 27(1), Spring 1970, pp. 27-44. Westinghouse, Church, Kerr, and Company (WCK) 1909 Observational Report on the Gallatin Valley Electric Railway, Gallatin County, Montana. Manuscript on file, Gallatin History Museum, Bozeman, Montana Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/2011 7. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/2011 MAPS T2SR5E T2SR6E 24GA1395 Source: Bozeman, Montana (Provisional Edition 1987) 7.5 Minute Quadrangles 24GA1395 Scale 1:24,000 For Official Use Only: Disclosure of Sites Prohibited (43 CFR 7.18) p00.25 0.50.125 Miles Service Layer Credits: Copyright:© 2013 National Geographic Society, i-cubed Site Boundary - Updated Portion Site Boundary - Out of Survey area 24GA1395 Smithsonian Number: 24GA1395 Update MONTANA CULTURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEM (CRIS) FORM Rev 11/21/2011 E Olive St A l l e y S B l a c k A v e S C h u r c h A v e E Story St S B o z e m a n A v e L i n d l e y P l D e l l P l S W a l l a c e A v e Bogert Pl C y p r e s s A v e E Koch St E Olive St E Alderson St E Curtiss St B o n n e r L n S R o u s e A v e E Olive St A l l e y A l l e y A l l e y E Curtiss StE Curtiss St G o lf W a y E Dickerson St 0 500 1,000250 Feet 24GA1395 For Official Use Only: Disclosure of Sites Prohibited (43 CFR 7.18)pSource: USDA:NRCS Geospatial Data Gateway - NAIP Imagery Date: 2015. Site Boundary - Updated Portion Site Boundary - Out of Survey Area Photograph(s) Site No.: 24GA1395 24GA1395 railroad grade southwest of Church Avenue overview, view to the northeast 24GA1395 Feature 1: Railroad bridge, view to the southwest Feature 1 bridge deck, view to the southwest 24GA9185, view to the south 24GA1395 in Burke Park northeast of Church Avenue, view to the north 24GA1395 within Burke Park, view to the north