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Home My WebLink About120 S Black Ave 2021 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: 120 S Black Ave. Historic Address (if applicable): City/Town: Bozeman Site Number: 24GA0709 Historic District Number (if applicable): County: Gallatin Historic Name: Blackmore Apartments Original Owner(s): Bozeman Investment Company Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: Blackmore Apartments Owner(s): ADR Investments I LLC Owner Address: 3375 Tumbleweed Dr, Bozeman, MT 59715 Phone: Legal Location PM: Montana Township: 2S Range: 6E NW ¼ NE ¼ SW ¼ of Section: 7 Lot(s): Lot 1A Block(s): Block B Addition: Black Addition Year of Addition: 1872 USGS Quad Name: Bozeman Year: 1987 Historic Use: Multi-Family Residential Current Use: Multi-Family Residential Construction Date: 1913 Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov NAD 27 or NAD 83 (preferred) Zone: 12 Easting: 497246 Northing: 5058225 National Register of Historic Places NRHP Listing Date: 1984 Historic District: NRHP Eligible: Yes No *Property meets the City of Bozeman’s definition of an eligible property. Date of this document: 5/5/2021 Form Prepared by: R. Schields, Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. Address: PO Box 1526, Bozeman, MT 59771 Daytime Phone: (406) 219-3535 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: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Prairie School If Other, specify: Property Type: Residential Specific Property Type: Apartments Architect: Fred F. Willson Architectural Firm/City/State: Bozeman, MT Builder/Contractor: Company/City/State: Source of Information: Susan Wellcome and Kelly Ritter. 1983. Blackmore Apartments NRHP Nomination Form. Document on-file at MT SHPO, Helena, MT. This site is the Blackmore Apartments, designed by Fred F. Willson and constructed in 1913. The site consists of the three-story apartment building and a previously unrecorded detached five-stall garage at the southeast corner of the lot. The apartment building was nominated to the NRHP by Susan Wellcome and Kelly Ritter in 1983 and subsequently listed. It was surveyed again by James R. McDonald in 1984. Metcalf visited the site in 2020 and noted no alterations to the apartment building since the 1983 nomination. The building is a three-story, redbrick building with a U-shaped plan open to the west. Entrances to the building are centered on the north and south wings (which run east-west) facing inward to the central courtyard. Entries are identical, with decorative segmented arches and contained within a projecting three-story bays with two-story wood-framed flanks containing large divided lite windows and balustraded flat roofs. Additional entries are at the north and south ends of the central wing of the building (which runs north-south). These entries are recessed, under second- and third-story balconies. Windows throughout the building are three-over-one-lite hung windows, many of which are paired; all have rusticated buff-colored sills but no lintels. There is decorative brick corbeling along the cornice of the building, on all elevations. There is also decorative brick banding along the base of the building, on all elevations. No major alterations have been made since the site was last recorded. However, Metcalf did note a previously omitted outbuilding which is located on the southeast corner of the lot. This second feature is a single-story, wood-framed, five-stall garage with a flat roof, clad in horizontal drop siding. The vehicle entries face south onto E Olive St and are all paneled, sectional, modern steel overhead doors. The site is in excellent condition and retains all aspects of integrity. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 History of Property Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 HISTORY OF PROPERTY Bozeman's first apartment building, the Blackmore Apartments, were designed by local architect Fred F. Willson and constructed in 1914. The building was financed by the Bozeman Investment Company, which included such prominent businessmen as George Cox, T. B. Story, O. E. Myers, Judge W.R.C. Stewart, and Fred Willson (Wellcome and Ritter, 1983). Willson was careful with his design, organizing the twenty-nine units in a U-shape plan to allow light and air, and specifying brick walls between each unit for noise reduction and fire suppression. The apartments also boasted the most up-to-date conveniences including a kitchen with electric range, ice box, and garbage chutes to the basement, where refuse was burned to heat the building's water (Wellcome and Ritter, 1983). Early residents were middle class professionals, who could chose between five, four, or two-room units. The apartment building was named for Lord and Lady Blackmore, who visited Bozeman from their home in England in 1872 (Anaconda Standard, April 3, 1914). The pair planned to accompany Dr. Hayden's geological survey of the Yellowstone area. Unfortunately, soon after their arrival, Lady Blackmore became ill with pneumonia and passed while in the care of Gen. and Mrs. Willson. In commemoration of his wife and appreciation of the care received in Bozeman, Lord Blackmore purchased seven acres near the town's east edge for a cemetery where he buried his wife. The cemetery is now know as Sunset Hills. "The Blackmore" was suggested as a name for the new apartment building by Mrs. J. M. Waters in 1914 ((Anaconda Standard, April 3, 1914). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Anaconda Standard 1914 "Apartment House Has Historic Name." April 3, Anaconda, MT. https://www.newspapers.com/image/354305748/?terms=Blackmore%20Apartments&match=1, accessed 5/6/21. Wellcome, Suzanne, and Kelly Ritter 1983. 120 S Black NRHP Inventory Nomination Form. Document on-file at MT SHPO, Helena, MT. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 Statement of Significance Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NRHP Listing Date: 1983 NRHP Eligibility: Yes No Individually Contributing to Historic District Noncontributing to Historic District NRHP Criteria: A B C D Area of Significance: Community Planning, Architecture Period of Significance: 1910-1919 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Blackmore Apartments is a 1914 brick apartment building designed by Fred Willson. It is individually listed in the NRHP (Wellcome and Ritter, 1983) (24GA0709). Metcalf finds the site in excellent condition. The site retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic character in reference to its historic associations. The site is currently listed in the NRHP and retains integrity sufficient to maintain its listed status. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 6 Integrity Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) Despite some modifications in the historic period, the site was nominated to the NRHP in 1983. There have been no alterations since that time. The site retains all aspects of integrity. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 Photographs Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 Feature # 1 Facing: SE Description: Site 24GA0709 (Property 150), oblique view (Image #0505, 10/15/2020, EAS). Feature # 1 Facing: NE Description: Site 24GA0709 (Property 150), oblique view (Image #0502, 10/15/2020, EAS). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 Photographs Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 Feature # 1 Facing: NW Description: Site 24GA0709 (Property 150), oblique view (Image #0503, 10/15/2020, EAS). Feature # 2 Facing: NW Description: Site 24GA0709 (Property 150), oblique view (Image #0504, 10/15/2020, EAS). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 Site Map Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 10 Topographic Map Property Name: 120 S Black Ave. Site Number: 24GA0709