HomeMy WebLinkAboutSOB Barn (24GA2358) 2025
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Introduction
REMEMBER! The Principal Investigator is responsible for ensuring that the information in this form is complete and accurate as per
the Montana SHPO Consultation Guide standards for recording cultural and architectural resources in Montana.
LEARN HOW TO COMPLETE THIS FORM AND DOWNLOAD THE MOST RECENT VERSION AT: https://mhs.mt.gov/shpo/forms
Please contact Montana SHPO Cultural Records staff at (406) 444-4724 with questions.
- Documenting Sites (Section 2.3, MTSHPO_ConsultationGuide.pdf)
^ Requesting Smithsonian Numbers for Site Records: What to Submit (smithsonian-qr2.pdf)
* How to Create a Complete Site Record: Forms, Photos, Maps, and GIS (siteform-instructions.pdf)
+ How to Apply National Register Criteria for Evaluation. National Park Service, National Register Bulletin. 1997.
Online: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf
1. Identification
HISTORIC / PROPERTY NAME SMITHSONIAN NUMBER (issued by SHPO)^
Beef-Cattle Barn / SOB Barn 24GA????
PROJECT NAME PROJECT NUMBER
DATE FIRST RECORDED BY PHONE (000) 000-0000 EMAIL ADDRESS
9/1993 Dena Sanford 2415 Highland, Bozeman, MT
DATE UPDATED BY PHONE (000) 000-0000 EMAIL ADDRESS
1/5/2025 Lesley M. Gilmore (406) 600-0464 Gilmorepreservation@g
mail.com
180 North Low Bench Road,
Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730
2. Location
COUNTY LOT/BLOCK SUBDIVISION STREET ADDRESS CITY / TOWN (NEAREST)
Gallatin Garfield Street Bozeman, MT
UTM COORDINATES OR LAT-LONG FOR THE CENTER OF THE SITE, TO THE 6TH
DECIMAL
DATUM (E.g., NAD27, WGS84, etc.)
Zone: 12 Easting: 45.66688 Northing: -111.05616 NAD 83
TOWNSHIP N/S RANGE E/W SEC QTR TOWNSHIP N/S RANGE E/W SEC QTR
2 S 5 E 13 NW¼
(tab from last cell to add rows to TRS table)
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NARRATIVE / NOTES ON ACCESS (OPTIONAL)
3. Ownership and Use
CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE/SURFACE OWNERSHIP CURRENT USE
Montana State University Vacant Public
Private
ORIGINAL ADMINISTRATIVE/SURFACE OWNERSHIP ORIGINAL/HISTORIC USE
Montana State College Beef-Cattle Barn Public
Private
4. Historic Property/Architecture Description
PROPERTY TYPE* ARCHITECTURAL STYLE TIME PERIOD
Historic University/College Vernacular
ARCHITECT NAME/FIRM ARCHITECT CITY, STATE BUILDER NAME/COMPANY BUILDER CITY, STATE CONSTRUCTION DATE
William R. Plew, MSC
Supervising Architect
Bozeman, MT 1924 (actual)
STATUS NOTES ON STATUS CHANGE
Original location
Addition/alteration
Moved/relocated
Destroyed
Other
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
The Siting
The SOB Barn is located west of MSU’s main campus core, at the south terminus of Gallatin Hall Service Road, south of the service
road’s intersection with West Garfield Street. North of West Garfield Street, various low- and high-rise buildings have housed married
students since the 1950s. The erstwhile barn, with the following buildings in clockwise fashion - defines the circumference of a
pedestrian oval: Gallatin (Residence) Hall, North Hedges (Residence) Hall, Madison (Residence) Hall, and Jefferson (Residence Hall).
The oval is named “Headwaters Oval” in reference to the three rivers, Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson, that form the headwaters of
the Missouri River (near Three Forks, Montana). Surface parking lots west of the barn and the dormitories provide permitted parking
for students.
When constructed in 1924, the barn was located west of the nine core buildings of the Agricultural Experimental Station west of
South 11th Avenue, separated from them by pastures. The main complex instructionally stretched across the street to the agricultural
education buildings (south to north) Lewis Hall, Taylor Hall, and Linfield Hall. Bull barns and poultry houses were located south of the
Agricultural Station.1
1 Documented on the 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, sheet 36.
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The Architecture
Now known as the SOB Barn, in affectionate redundant parlance, this barn was originally constructed as a Beef Cattle Barn. The
original plans depict the box stalls, feed alleys, a feed storage room, hay room, and office associated with this original use. The design
of the SOB barn, while some twenty years after the barns in the experimental station complex to its east, used the same design
vocabulary as the earlier buildings. These buildings, on the south side of Garfield Street, had gambrel roofs, extensive use of wood
trim to articulate walls and differentiate floor levels, multi-paned windows, and ledger doors reinforced with diagonal members. The
lower walls were finished with wood weatherboards; the upper gable end walls were finished with wood shingles. The roofs,
terminating in cornice returns and capped with roll ridges, were protected with wood shingles. Several of the buildings had gable-
roofed entries supported by slender columns. The buildings, intended to demonstrate best practices, were obviously designed to
please the eye and to function well.
The SOB Barn - Exterior
The SOB Barn is a 122’-long, 44’-8”-wide wood-frame building of two stories, the second of which is fully contained with the large
gambrel roof. This two-sloped roof – with a gentle slope in the upper reaches, and a steeper slope as it approaches the eaves –
attains a ridge height of nearly 39’. In 2012, the existing wood shingle roof and sheet metal flashing were replaced in kind, in keeping
with the original wood shingle roof.2 The original sheet metal roll ridge cap was removed and reinstalled. As common for 1924, the
foundation is of poured board-formed concrete, the footing of which steps up as the grade rises beside the building. The original
brick chimney remains near the east end of the roof’s south slope, likely used more recently for the caretaker’s apartment furnace. A
new galvanized B-vent penetrates the west end of the roof’s north slope, for exhausting gases from the furnace in the northwest
corner of the first floor of the building.
The expanse of roof is expressed strongly at the two long north and south elevations. The first floor walls here are symmetrically
articulated with regularly spaced window openings (four each side) flanking the centrally located entry doors. The horizontality of
the wall is emphasized with a wood watertable above the concrete foundation wall and a wood header trim (with cap) that extends
across all the window and door openings, sliding behind the colonnade at the north entry. Corner boards provide a little vertical
relief at the corners, yet they are interrupted by the horizontal trim, which takes precedence. These trim boards provide natural
locations for a differentiation in the wood siding: beveled clapboarding above the head trim and “Rustic” drop-lap siding with a 5”
exposure below the head trim. The watertable is just over 7½” wide and trimmed with a nearly 1”-tall cap that extends beyond the
watertable face, to direct water away from the wall. The door and window trim is 4½” wide. All the trim is of square stock with
butted joints; the weatherboards also butt into the trim. The windowsills extend from side casing to side casing.
The centered openings of these two long facades each feature a pair of wide wood doors of the ledger style. Exterior-mounted X-
brace boards strengthen the frames; the interior faces are of vertical tongue-and-groove boards, for a total thickness of 2½”. The
north pair of doors, each 5’-8” wide and 8’-8” tall, swing out and the south doors, each 5’-10” wide and 8’-8” tall, slide along a robust
overhead track. A hinged door has been fitted into the east leaf of the south doors.
The north façade is distinguished with a center porch protected by a low-sloped gable roof which covers the entry porch. The porch
extends 10’-0” from the building and is essentially open, being defined by low side walls that each turn the corner to support a pair
of columns facing north and a pair of columns facing east and a pair facing west. These slender columns support the porch’s upper
walls, each of which has a gently curved portion to increase the height in the center of the opening. The low walls are 4’-3½” above
grade and capped with a 1½”-thick wood coping. The column shafts are slender, starting with a narrow base diameter of 5-1/8” and
tapering slightly to the top. Simple round bases and capitals are accented with a raised round fillet molding 5” or 6” below the
capital. The base of the upper wall is trimmed with a narrow wood board that further accentuates the curves. This upper wall is clad
with clapboards which die into the top frieze board. The siding remains unbroken at the corners, where the outer corners are
protected with sheet metal corner guards, in lieu of corner trim. The gable end above the entry is finished with trim boards in stick
style fashion, covering wood shingles. This entry’s roofing and galvanized roll ridge cap were replaced and reinstalled, respectively, in
2012.
2 The wood shingles had previously been replaced in 1969. “Old MSU Barn Gets New Roof,” Gallatin County Tribune and Belgrade
Journal, 27 November 1969, page 9.
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The two gable end walls are nearly identical to each other and demonstrate the height of the building while gracefully decreasing the
mass of the building with a trim pattern that organizes the openings and stresses the symmetry of each elevation. The upper story
portion is the largest aspect that, partly due to the cornice returns and the dark wall shingles, dominates the lower story. The lower
story follows the treatment established at the north and south elevations, with the same trim, weatherboard, window, and door
detailing. The gable end walls engage trim to emphasize the breadth of the wall. This is balanced with vertical trim to define the
locations for window and door openings. The commonalities in the two walls are the large sliding doors in the center of the first floor wall, flanked by double-hung wood windows; a wood access opening is centered above each pair of doors. The upper walls differ
from each other. The east elevation has three wood double-hung windows spaced regularly across the width of the elevation at
approximate mid-height. The remainder of that wall is clad with wall shingles between the trim boards. The west elevation has two
windows symmetrically located at mid-height. Centered above the wall between the windows a pair of wood hay mow doors – each
4’-wide x 10’-tall – stretch into the peak of the gable. The hay track extends out from the wall above the doors.
All the walls are capped with a frieze board that wraps around the top of the first floor on all elevations. Where the frieze meets the
roof soffit and the cornice return soffit (of beadboard), the joint is covered with a quarter-round trim. The rake treatment at the
gable ends is similar. Most of the windows are wood double-hung units, with 6 panes over 6 panes; the windows at the east portion
of the building have been replaced with one-over-one units. Most of the windows are fitted with exterior wood storm units. The
exterior of several of the openings are boarded with plywood. A plywood exit door has been inserted into the east end of the north
façade, and one within the west elevation, to provide exiting for the (non-original) stairways. All the trim – and columns - are painted
white and the weatherboards a pale blue.
While the barn is generally considered to be of a farm vernacular style, many of the components are classically inspired, including
the: front columns, entry porch, cornice returns, friezes and rakes, and cornice trim.
The SOB Barn - Interior
The SOB interior was altered considerably in the early 1970s. The first floor was originally defined by a cruciform shape of wide
driveways which gave access to box stalls, feed alleys, and other specific function rooms. The Feed Room and Hay Room were across
from one another, each providing stair access to the hayloft above. All of these rooms and stairs were removed in 1969. The concrete
floor was removed and replaced with a new concrete floor.3 This might have been prompted by the numerous floor drains, gutters,
and troughs set within the original concrete flooring. Three sets of stairs to the second floor were added – in the southeast center,
the northeast corner, and the southwest corner. The wing west of the remaining north-south entry hall is primarily open, with two rooms added at the far west end for the stairs (at the south) and the furnace (at the north). A store room was added in the southeast
corner. A caretaker’s apartment was constructed in the southeast corner of the barn and restrooms were added to a raised area in
the northeast corner. A meeting/classroom was added east of the north entry.
Some of the wood structure is visible in the west wing of the first floor. The original wood 6” x 8” posts remain exposed, supporting built-up (of four 2x members) beams. ¼”-thick steel plate T’s are bolted to the sides of each beam and column juncture. The exterior
wall structure is concealed by plywood sheets, set upon a wood plate on the 9½”-tall concrete wall. The ceiling, at 8’-6” above the
carpeted floor, is finished with untaped gypsum board. Ceiling-mounted fluorescent light fixtures, each 4’ long, are spaced evenly
throughout.
Different structural members are visible in the east wing of the first floor. The lack of finished ceiling reveals the second floor
framing, with 1¾” x 11¼” floor joists located on 16” centers. The joists run north-south. The columns are typically buried within the
framed walls that flank the central corridor. These walls are finished with painted plywood. The floors of the main north-south center
hallway and the east hallway that stems from it are both finished with 5” x 5” matte quarry tiles, for a durable finish. The classroom
(Room 102) ceiling is finished 12” x 12”’ acoustic tile at 8’-7½” above the wall-to-wall carpet. Dark paneling, 3/16” thick, covers the
walls which are terminated with a vinyl base. The restroom area is raised 2½” above the hall floor. The floors are finished with 12” x
12” vinyl tile.
3 “Students save Barn” The Jordan Tribune, 19 February 1971, page 10.
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The caretaker’s apartment walls and most of the ceilings are finished with gypsum board. The center room has been fitted with 12” x
12” acoustic ceiling tile. All openings and wall bases are finished 2½” Ranch trim (angled and beveled, then mitered at the corners).
Flooring varies from 12” x 12” vinyl tile in the east room, concrete in the center room, to a plywood floor in the west room.
The second floor exudes a high level of integrity, with its full volume clearly expressed for its full 27’-9½” height to the ridge. The side
walls, at 5’-1” above the plywood floor, are clad in plywood. The rest of the space soars with the small framing members that make up the roof structure. This light truss framing is of the braced rafter/wing type prevalent in barns constructed from 1900 to 1940.4
HISTORY OF PROPERTY
(The following, intended, discussion of the developmental history of the Montana State University Campus has been excerpted from
the 2012 Montana Historic Property Record form for the Montana Wool Laboratory. Additional information is added in brackets.)
Development of Montana State University Campus
Montana State University was founded on February 16, 1893 (four years after statehood) as Montana’s land grant college
under the Morrill Act of 1862. It has the distinction of being Montana’s first legislatively-created public university, with the
University of Montana in Missoula being created the following day. Initially called the Agricultural College of the State of
Montana, the new college was situated on a 200-acre site, part of which had been platted as the Capital Hill Addition in a
(failed) bid for the State Capital. Bozeman citizens raised funds to purchase half the land, and Gallatin County donated the
other half, which included the County poor farm. The first purpose-built building on campus was the Agricultural Experiment
Station (Taylor Hall) constructed in 1894. Main Hall (or Montana Hall), the centerpiece of the campus, was completed in
1898. The construction of the Neo-classical Revival style Agricultural Building (Linfield Hall) in 1907 further illustrated the
primary role of agriculture at Montana State. In 1913, the college was renamed the Montana State College of Agriculture
and the Mechanic Arts (MSC).
The college anticipated a period of expansion after World War I, and contracted with Montana architect, George Carsley,
and nationally-known landscape architect,5 Cass Gilbert, to develop a campus plan, now known as the “1917 George Carsley
/ Cass Gilbert Plan.” This plan, which exhibited a formal Beaux-Arts symmetry [and formality], was adopted by the Montana
State Board of Education in 1920 and guided campus development until the outbreak of World War II. Its implementation
was assisted by a $5 million bond to fund building development programs on all of Montana’s campuses. At MSC this
resulted in the construction of several Italian Renaissance Revival buildings, including Roberts Hall, Traphagen Hall, Lewis
Hall, Harrick Hall, Romney Gymnasium and the Heating Plant.
MSC continued to grow and evolve during the Great Depression and World War II. This was spurred in part by the growth of
the Extension Service under the New Deal’s Agricultural Adjustment Administration, an increase in unemployed students
who enrolled in the years from 1932 to 1939 and expanded military training (including a flight school) during World War II.
The 1935 “Quads,” a women’s dormitory financed through the Works Progress Administration, and the oldest portion of the
Student Union, completed in 1940, were the era’s most significant additions to campus. Both were designed by Bozeman
architect, Fred F. Willson, in the Tudor Revival style. Slight deviations from the 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan
during the mid-1940s resulted from a desire for new buildings alongside a need to curb paving and heating costs by
reducing the space between buildings.
4 Gemini Research, for Minnesota Department of Transporta�on, Minnesota Historic Barns Survey: Planning and Building Farm
Structures, Volume 1, 2005, page 5.77.
5 Cass Gilbert was “One of this country’s foremost architects…” known for designing the Minnesota State Capitol, the New York
Custom House, the Woolworth Building, and a long list of outstanding well-regarded buildings. Henry F. Withey & Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased), (Los Angeles: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1970; facsimile edi�on,
Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1996), page 233-235.
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Along with colleges and universities across the nation, MSC expanded to accommodate students attending college under
the “GI Bill” after World War II. The square footage of campus buildings doubled in the following decades. At this time,
further departures occurred from the 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan as growth demanded expansion beyond its
boundaries and within its open spaces. The Renne Library (1949) and the small Danforth Chapel (1952), MSC’s first Modern
style building, were the era’s earliest additions to campus but several others followed during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Four Mid-Century Modern dormitories were added to the northern end of campus and new academic buildings, including Reid Hall and the Math-Physics Building (AJM Johnson Hall), were erected in open spaces south of Garfield Street. Several
older buildings also received significant Modern style additions, including Linfield and Lewis Halls. The result of this new
construction was a campus showcasing a dynamic blend of revivalist and modernist styles.
The college was re-named Montana State University (MSU) in 1965, and the high-rise dormitories (Hedges and Roskie Halls)
that would symbolize the modern era were completed by 1967. More buildings were added in the 1970s as MSU replaced
all of its temporary frame buildings with permanent structures. Growth slowed during the 1980s through the beginning of
the 21st century in the core campus area, although a few new buildings (Visual Communications, the EPS Building and the
Chemistry & Biochemistry Building) were added. Many older buildings have also undergone significant alterations in recent
decades. Perhaps the greatest addition to campus during the contemporary period was [the 1992-1993 creation of]
Centennial Mall along what was once Garfield Street. In providing a strong east-west linear focus, the well-landscaped
pedestrian mall was actually a return to the axial arrangement of 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan. Today, the MSU
campus represents a blend of early formal planning, post-war expansion and contemporary buildings that respond to
current needs. It offers an excellent example of the evolution of campus planning in Montana. (Burlingame, in passim;
Painter, Montana Property Record Form for Langford Hall.
The Name
Throughout this document, what is now known as Montana State University (MSU) is referred to as Montana State College (MSC) for
events between 1921 and 1965 (and earlier, for ease) and as MSU from 1965 to the present day. To confuse the issue, the current
University of Montana in Missoula was known as Montana State University from 1921 through 1945.”6
(The following history, indented, of MSU’s Experiment Station is extracted from the Miller Livestock Pavillion Montana Property
Record Form .)7
A Brief History of the Experiment Station
The Montana Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES or the Experiment Station) and the Agricultural State College of
Montana (MSU) were authorized alongside each other by the State Legislature on February 16, 1893. As a land grant
institution, the new College had access to $15,000 in annual federal funding available through the 1887 Hatch Act for the
creation of an agricultural experiment station. Agricultural education and extension in Montana would develop quickly over
the next few decades from its base in Bozeman, as explained by historian Merrill G. Burlingame in 1968:
When Montana State opened in 1893, the teaching mission was only one of its interests. Another was that of agricultural
research, and the Experiment Station began operations at the same time. The influence of the nationwide Farmer’s Institutes
soon led to the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which established the Extension Service, and the land-grant educational pattern was complete.
Of course, there was much work to be done before reaching that point of relative maturity. Montana stood to benefit
greatly from the work of its Agricultural Experiment Station, but beyond authorizing its creation, it did little to support the
institution during its formative years. The Experiment Station began operations on a donated 160-acre farm immediately
6 “University of Montana New Name for Missoula Campus,” The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), 1 July 1965, page 8.
7 Candace Mastel, Miller Livestock Pavillion Montana Property Record Form–24 GA2011, 17 Dec. 2020, page 5-7.
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west of the MSU campus, which included 80 acres from the City of Bozeman and what had been the Gallatin County Poor
Farm. It depended upon the $15,000 Hatch Act appropriation for survival.
[The most salient buildings of the Agricultural Experiment Station comprised the Dairy Building of 1902 (which later housed the
Museum of the Rockies from 1958 through 1973), the Cattle Barn of 1903, the Horse Barn of 1909, and the Piggery of 1909.]8
Montana’s Agricultural Experiment Station expanded quickly over the next fifteen years, both in the breadth of its studies
and in its physical presence across the State. This was largely due to more funding, which came from increasing State
support, beginning in 1903 and with the passage of the Adams Act in 1906. The Adams Act offered an additional $15,000
annually in federal monies for research. Money also came in from private donors, including the Northern Pacific, Great
Northern and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroads, who had a substantial financial interest in agricultural
development along their routes through Montana. The Experiment Station also improved and expanded its Home Station in
Bozeman, with the acquisition of 160 acres and two city blocks for the College Farm (1909), the addition of 600 acres at the
former Fort Ellis Military Reservation located three miles east of the main campus (also in 1909) and the creation of the
Montana Grain Laboratory (1913).
Agricultural development in Montana surged during the Experiment Station’s first twenty-five years, but the crash in
agricultural prices that followed WWI marked the beginning of a tumultuous period that would not end until the close of
the Second World War. The Experiment Station continued to grow during the interwar period as it worked to meet the
challenges of agricultural depression and wartime production. World War II brought a rebound in agriculture prices, but also
necessitated increased production.
Further expansion occurred in 1955 when MSU purchased the 160-acre Towne Farm about one mile west of campus, adding
the adjacent Girven Farm, also a quarter-section, two years later. The Experiment Station established a Dairy Center and an
Experimental Beef Feeding Center at this location, but it would be another decade before the property was to be fully
developed.
At the onset of the 1960s, Montana’s political climate shifted with the election of Governor Donald Nutter. Under the Nutter
Administration (1961-1962), the budgets of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and its companion organization,
the Montana Agricultural Extension Service, were cut by 34% and 51%, respectively. A new administration following Nutter’s tragic death in a plane crash brought less severe cuts, but the 1960s remained a difficult period for all of higher education in
Montana. Even so, in the late 1960s the Experiment Station was able to shift its operations from the original “Home Station”
immediately adjacent to campus to their properties on the western edge of town. At the former Towne and Girven Farms,
the Experiment Station further developed their livestock operations with the construction of new metal “field buildings”
and the Miller Livestock Pavilion in 1968.
When MSU President Ronald R. Renne secured purchase of the Towne and Stucky-Girven Farms in the 1950s, it was in
anticipation of moving the Experiment Station’s livestock-related research away from the original buildings located
immediately across South 11th Avenue from the main campus. In addition to Renne’s desire to address deferred
maintenance and to provide more appropriate facilities for the mission, a modern facility removed from the hustle-and-bustle of campus, it was felt, would better facilitate research staff, teachers and students.
The Experiment Station was able to thrive during the latter decades of the 20th century and into the 21st century, despite
occasional cuts in funding. In partnership with the MSU College of Agriculture, the Experiment Station now includes six
departments: agricultural economics, agricultural education, animal and range sciences, immunology and infectious
diseases, land resources and environmental sciences, and plant sciences and pathology. It is also affiliated with seven
Institutes, including the Agricultural Marketing Policy Center and the Center for Invasive Plant Management.”
8 James E. Knight, Animal and Range Sciences Department History 1893-2016.
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Despite the great need to find the Animal Sciences Department a new home, it took several years following the purchase of
the Towne and Stucky-Girven Farms to secure funding for new buildings. In 1964, they proposed to the Montana Board of
Regents that the original livestock buildings be, “replaced with new facilities,” to be constructed as cheaply as possible with,
“low cost steel,” and concrete block. In 1965, the Montana State Legislature heard MSU’s request, allocating some $364,000
for the construction of agricultural field buildings.9
Design of the Beef Cattle Barn
The construction drawings used to construct the Beef Cattle Barn were prepared by MSC’s Supervising Architect, W. R. Plew, dated
May 1924. The drawings appear to have been followed closely in the construction of the building.10 While many of the news articles
about saving and repurposing the barn state the construction date as 1926, the 1963 inventory of MSU buildings states the first year
of occupancy as 1924, which also concurred with historian Merrill Burlingame’s records.11 The 1924 date is further reinforced by the
Department of Animal Husbandry’s annual report from 1924-1925, in which the department director stated: “During the past year a
new beef cattle barn and a poultry class room and laboratory building were completed. These two buildings cost a total of
$34,385.00. In this connection it should be remembered that barns at a College of Agriculture are not merely for the housing of
livestock, but are the stock laboratories for use by students. This barn will care for 75 head of livestock, provide storage of large
quantities of feed, and at the same time is constructed to afford student study and livestock experimentation opportunities. These
are the real uses for a barn at a College of Agriculture.”12
This beef cattle barn was located west of the main core of the Agricultural Experiment farm, west of South 11th Avenue. The largest
and most prominent of these buildings were: the Dairy Barn, constructed in 1902; a cattle barn built in 1903, and the horse barn built
in 1909. These two-story frame buildings were designed to impress, educate, and demonstrate their necessary and distinct
operations. These special purpose barns were in keeping with the agricultural industry standards. Most took the shape of a general
purpose barn that housed an interior customized to accommodate the class of livestock. MSC took advantage of 2-story barns that
combined hay storage in a “…central, high storage section for hay and grain, and attached or connecting sheds for animals.”13 Farm
building publications stated that: “Beef cattle are accommodated in this type of structure in the most common design” and that “The
conventional 2-story barn most nearly meets the average farm requirements: accommodations are provided in the first story for
animals, pen, feed, and equipment needs, and the loft is used for hay, bedding, and supplementary storage.”14 The gambrel roof was
the most usual type for these conventional barns with loft storage.15
The interior configuration was designed to fit the animal. Recommended sizes for cattle stalls were considerably smaller than those
used at MSC’s beef cattle barn, which might have been an accommodation for ease of instruction and to lessen the trauma on the
animals. The recommended minimum dimension was 10’, with area between 100 and 140 square feet.16 The box stalls in the MSC
barn were 13’-4” x 15’-8” and larger, thus a minimum of 209 square feet. Farmers’ Bulletins by USDA – and MSC Agriculture
Extension bulletins17 - recommend barn type, location, size, construction, and design to ensure a healthy stock. The 1923 USDA
9 Mastel, page 5-8.
10 1924 construc�on drawings provided by MSU Building Design and Construc�on.
11 Physical Plant Inventory, Montana State College Agricultural Experiment Sta�on Fall Term 1963, page MSC-8. In MSU Special
Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968. Merrill G. Burlingame MSU History Research Files,
Accession 84014, Box 3, Folder: “Buildings,” Research notes & Materials, page 2. MSU Special Collec�ons.
12 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 1924-1925, page 7.
13 Deane G. Carter and the late W.A. Foster, Farm Buildings (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., first edi�on 1922; third edi�on 1949),
page 189.
14 Ibid., page 190-191.
15 Ibid., page 191.
16 Ibid., page 224.
17 The 1993 DRAFT nomina�on of the SOB Barn to the Na�onal Register of Historic Places includes the 42nd Annual Report of the
Montana Agricultural Experiment Sta�on from July 1, 1934 to June 30, 1935, en�tled “Service to Montana’s Livestock Industry.” This
annual report includes photographs of the barns on the campus’s Experiment Sta�on, including a photograph of the Beef Catle Barn.
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publication dedicated to beef-cattle barns stresses the importance of location, to “facilitate the movement of stock to and from all
fields with the least inconvenience. The barn should be located near the other buildings.” The ground should be level and well-
drained and sited to allow for future expansion.18
Feeding the cattle inside and giving them shelter from harsh weather was common practice, particularly in the colder states such as
Montana. “Under this system all the roughage needed for the feeding period, and a considerable part of the grain and concentrates,
are stored in the barn. This favors a saving of labor and time in feeding and also a saving of feed…Unquestionably feeding barns have
a greater use in the colder climate where winter storms are more severe.”19
Construction of the Beef Cattle Barn
MSC’s Department of Animal Husbandry’s complex of buildings at the Agriculture Experiment Station on the west side of campus
included a Beef Loafing Shed and Bull Shed, each of which had been built in 1907 and an Experimental Steer Barn from 1912, which
were considered insufficient for the college’s raising of good livestock. The former combined area was 1,710 square feet and the
latter 1,209 square feet. The previously referenced 1903 Cattle Barn housed both dairy cattle and breeding bulls.20 More space was
needed specifically for beef cattle. Since before 1923, the department administrator had reminded MSC’s president and University of
Montana’s chancellor Brannon that: “Recommendations have been made from time to time for a new beef cattle barn. This building
is badly needed to carry the pure bred stock used in class room work.” He insisted that the real measure of an agriculture college was
in the excellence of their live stock equipment, which enabled the instructors to provide better instruction.21
Despite the declining student registration associated with the 1919-1920 depression, in 1923 MSC believed that “The shortage of
trained men in agriculture will make itself felt in the years ahead” and that enrollment would rise again. Indeed, the 1924 registration
of 122 students in the agriculture department was a sharp decline from the 167 who enrolled in 1922-1923.22 By 1925, enrollment
had improved to 152 and rose from there.23
The department was pleased to report in 1925 that new cattle barn – at 4,831 square feet – had been completed, along with a
poultry class room and laboratory building. The new cattle barn cost $17,500 to build.24 The report reminded the administration that
the barns did not only house live stock, but were laboratories for the students. The new beef cattle barn was large enough to: “…care
for 75 head of livestock, provide storage of large quantities of feed, and at the same time is constructed to afford student study and
livestock experimentation opportunities. These are the real uses for a barn at a College of Agriculture.”25 The new barn was
considered modern, of adequate size, and provided for improved teaching opportunities.26
18 E. W. (Earl Wooddell) Sheets, 1886- & Kelley, M. A. R. (Manley Alexander Raymond), 1888-1943. Beef-Catle
Barns, pamphlet, 1923; Washington D.C.. (htps://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc86047/: accessed December 11,
2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, htps://digital.library.unt.edu; credi�ng UNT Libraries Government
Documents Department, page 1-2.
19 Ibid., page 12.
20 James E. Knight, Animal and Range Sciences Department History 1893-2016.
21 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 19 May 1923, page
10 and 12.
22 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 19 May 1923, page
12; Annual Report 1924-1925; Annual Report 1925-1926.The number of women students in MSC’s Department of Animal Husbandry
rose from three in 1923 to four in 1924, then declined to one in 1925. Women enrolled in the Household and Industrial Arts in much
larger numbers, such as219 in 1925-1926.
23 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 19 May 1923, page
10 and 12.
24 The construc�on cost is provided in the 1963 inventory of MSC buildings. MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s
Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 6, Folder 6.16 – Physical Plant 1963, page MSC-8.
25 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 1924-1925, page 7.
26 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 1924-1925, page 4.
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As early as 1926, the Department of Animal Husbandry considered moving the barn buildings of this campus Experiment Station to
the college farm, “…considerably west of our location…in the near future.”27 The department’s observation that other campus
buildings received regular maintenance but the barn buildings were “…old fasioned [sic] and ragged; a back number…practically all
the live stock buildings need repairs of one kind or another. All need painting…”28 appears to have been heard, as money was
allocated for maintenance, especially since the move (which became relocation to new buildings) did not occur until the 1960s.
In 1934, the beef cattle (SOB) barn was remodeled, doubling its capacity, the corrals were partly rebuilt, and the 30-acre pasture
west of the barn was fenced in. The Animal Husbandry department furnished the labor to complete these projects.29
Historian Dena Sanford relayed the death knell for the campus’s Experiment Station in her draft National Register nomination for the
Beef Cattle Barn, as follows:
“When expansion of the university to the west occurred in the late 1960’s all of the old frame barns except for the Beef Cattle Barn
were torn down. A 1965-1975 building survey gave these reasons for the destruction of the barns. ‘They were well adapted to the
needs of their day but are obsolete by any standards today. They are poorly adapted to modern research methods and needs.
Maintenance…has been at a minimum during the last few years since it seemed imperative that they be replaced relatively soon.’
[Folder A1..&B2.d/MSC Building Survey]. The university proposed replacing them with new experiment station facilities to be located
one mile west of campus. [p.37.]”30
Use of the beef cattle barn was discontinued in the late 1960s, at which time MSU students formed the “Save Our Barn” club.
William Reece Plew
William Reece Plew is known as the long-time supervisor overseeing the design, construction, and maintenance of many buildings on
the MSC-Bozeman campus during his tenure there from 1921 until his death in 1945. He came to MSC after teaching civil engineering
at then Montana State University (the current University of Montana in Missoula) from 1910 to 1913.31 At MSC he became an
assistant professor of civil engineering in 1913, and professor of structural engineering in 1914. “In 1915 he organized the
department of architecture and became its head, the position he held at his death [on 20 June 1945]. In 1921 he was given the
additional duties of supervising architect.”32
William Plew had been born on October 31, 1878 in Merom, Indiana.33 His family moved to Hutsonville, IL when he was a child, from where he graduated high school and became a pharmacist. After serving in the army he married Miss Elizabeth Batey in 1900. He
began his architectural and engineering career soon after, graduating in 1907 from Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, IN.
“Three years later he earned his master of science degree in civil engineering. He returned to the University of Illinois in 1920 to earn
the bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering.”34 In 1890, Nathan Ricker had developed the first curriculum for
27 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 1925-1926, page 4.
28 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 8, Annual Report 1925-1926, page 6.
29 MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession 12002, President’s Office: Annual Reports 1921-1968, Box 1, Annual Report 1934-1935, page 6.
30 Dena Sanford, DRAFT Beef Catle Barn Na�onal Register Nomina�on, September 1993. The referenced survey was cited as
“A1..7B2.d/Building Study 1965-1975.” Montana State University Archives. The MSU Archives was culled, divided, and relocated to
the MSU Library and the Nopper Building on campus, ca. 2022.
31 The two schools exchanged names over the years, most recently (1965) with the naming of the Bozeman school as Montana State
University and the Missoula school as the University of Montana.
32 “Professor Plew Dies,” The Collegian, June 1945. MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession MSU-03001, MSU-Bozeman Faculty
Biographies.
33 Death cer�ficate, htps://www.ancestry.com/search/collec�ons/61255/records/65418, accessed 30 December 2024.
34 “Professor Plew Dies,” The Collegian, June 1945. MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession MSU-03001, MSU-Bozeman Faculty
Biographies.
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architectural engineering in the states at the University of Illinois, claiming it to be essential for the understanding, and actual act, of
construction.35
Plew was also active in the Gallatin County community, assessing building damage after the 1925 earthquake, which required the
rebuilding of several schools. He also wrote in several Montana journals, most notably a bulletin on “One and Two-Room School
Buildings for Montana.”36 On June 20, 1945, Plew died of a coronary thrombosis while visiting his daughter in Yakima, WA. He was cremated at the Great Falls Crematory.
As Jessie Nunn states in the MSU Historic District National Register Nomination, Plew’s “… function was that of project manager,
draftsman, designer, coordinator with outside consultants and director of the Physical Plant. When Plew died in June of 1945, H. C.
Cheever of the College of Architecture stepped into his position as an additional duty until Plew's replacement could be found.
Walter Baker was employed as Professor Plew's replacement in 1947. (Adapted from Sutherland, 17).” She also notes that “Plew
served as the general contractor for Herrick Hall (1926) and likely drew up final plans for that building.”37
The SOB Barn might be the only remaining Plew design on campus. Confirmation that Plew designed the Wool Laboratory is elusive,
given that the construction drawings are dated 1947, after Plew’s death in 1945.
The Physical Plant building, constructed in 1952, was named after Plew.
The Save Our Barn Campaign
The world around the SOB Barn changed in 1959 when the new Dairy Barn was erected at the new Dairy Center one mile west of
campus (today’s BART farm) and in the 1960s when the Agricultural Experiment station buildings were rebuilt anew, and pastures
and experimental plots were located further west of the campus. In response to an MSU decision to raze the barn, the successful
campaign to save the barn began in early spring 1969 with renovation continuing through 1973, after which the barn was used by
various student groups. This organized and sustained student effort to save this tangible piece of MSU’s origins as an agriculture
college are forever remembered in the current name of the building – the Save Our Barn Barn.
Early indications in 1969 indicated that MSU’s architect Andy van Teylingen had determined that the barn was structurally stable, too
expensive to move west to the new facilities, and “…should reamin [sic] as a heritance of the school.”38 The student group –
comprised of students from all over Montana and from several different scholastic departments – hoped to use the building as a day care (for married student housing occupants), a theatre, a meeting area, and “…lab-style instruction in theatre arts. Seating capacity
of 100 is anticipated.”39 Early in the planning process, the students wanted an art gallery to “…provide display space for traveling art
shows and university talent. Also planned is an apartment for a caretaker-supervisory couple.”40 This was all planned before the new
arts complex was constructed in 1974, at the prior location of the experimental station barns on S. 11th Avenue. It was hoped that
the $75,000 needed for the renovation could be raised.
The students planned and worked on cleaning and remodeling the building to suit the new uses. In November 1969, students of
MSU’s School of Architecture used the construction as a training ground. Their work was detailed as follows:
35 Nathan Ricker, htps://distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/exhibit/nathan-clifford-ricker/athan Clifford Ricker – Illinois Distributed
Museum, accessed 5 January 2025.
36 “Professor Plew Dies,” The Collegian, June 1945. MSU Special Collec�ons, Accession MSU-03001, MSU-Bozeman Faculty
Biographies.
37 Both quotes from Jessie Nunn, National Register Nomination for Montana State University Historic District, 2012.
38 “Old Beef Barn to be remodeled,” The Exponent, 12 March 1969, page 15.
39 “Future Foretold: Barn to be renovated”, The Exponent, 09 April 1969, page 1.
40 “Future Foretold: Barn to be renovated”, The Exponent, 09 April 1969, page 1.
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“After some temporary repairs, the School of Architecture will use the Beef Barn behind Hedges North as a place to construct
projects this year. Repairs involve putting visqueen over the windows, heat, lights, and general clean-up. Profits from the spring SOB
campaign will be used to purchase materials. In return for the use of the space, the School of Architecture will re-design the interior
of the barn to make it suitable for later use. Before the loft can be used, a new stairway and entrance must be built both for
convenience and safety regulations. The project will be a gradual one – it may take until spring quarter or net fall until the barn can
be used for any sort of entertainment or activities.”41
The overarching goal of saving MSU’s history was a common thread reflected throughout all the newspaper coverage. A May 1969
issue of the Townsend Star spoke of the drive to save the barn, beginning the article with: “The 1926-vintage barn, former home of
countless heads of beef used for research at MSU, was marked for destruction by school officials, until the students said, ‘Whoa!’”42
Botany major Bob Quinn, a junior from Big Sandy, of the Save our Barn campaign focused on the rich heritage of MSU in stating that:
“…we are a Land-Grant university, with a long time orientation toward agriculture…We would like to see the barn saved to preserve a
symbol of our heritage.”43 In November 1969, University architect A.A. van Teylingen was quoted in the Exponent, saying that:
“Through the efforts of a lot of different people, we can retain a structure that is the last bit of heritage of the State College of
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (the forerunner of MSU), and also provide some badly needed space for MSU students.”44 The
individual members of the Save Our Barn Club reiterated that the primary reason to keep the building was “…partly because of its
unique design in that it is constructed exactly like a real barn and that it isn’t as decrepit as the others were.”45 This somewhat
misguided comment by Kelly Addy, a Phi Sig fraternity man from Shelby, was eclipsed by the one by William McCroskey, who said
that the barn was of historical interest and should be retained as a reminder that this was once primarily an agriculture school. “Even
though the school has grown and gained many other fine departments, the barn plays a large part in the school’s heritage which
makes it very important and fun for everyone in the community.”46 Financing came from all over the state, yet the $75,000 goal was
not attained. Thus the students performed much of the labor themselves and were successful with requests for contractor help.
As relayed by Jack Walton, a junior from Saltese and president of the Save Our Barn Club in 1971, the students “…began with a barn
complete with cattle stalls and feed bunks. We hosed it out, cleaned it up and began remodelling [sic] it ourselves.” They worked
weekends and evenings to pour concrete, pound nails, and prepare the meeting and recreation rooms.47 The Industrial Arts students
– accustomed to constructing buildings on campus – built the stairs to the upper floor. The agriculture students laid the plywood
flooring upstairs.48 In November 1969, Smith and Smith Construction Company installed a new roof on the barn.49 In 1971, the club
persuaded a local construction company, Morgen and Oswood, to install lighting in the building.50
A Day Center was never inserted into the SOB Barn. The SOB Club identified the need early in their efforts to program the barn; this
need was confirmed in 1977, after a social work instructor, Sharon Hanson, and her students got involved, found funding and a
building to remodel as a day care. Originally located “…in half of a Family Housing duplex at 10 W. Yellowstone, it was licensed for 14
children. Two years later, the day care expanded into the other half of the duplex and was licensed for 26 children. Ten years after its
41 Kathy Storey ,“Barn to become architectural wonder,” The Exponent, 19 November 1969, page 13
42 “M.S.U. Students Have New Idea for ‘Old Barn,’” The Townsend Star, 1 May 1969, page A6.
43 “M.S.U. Students Have New Idea for ‘Old Barn,’” The Townsend Star, 1 May 1969, page A6.
44 Kathy Storey, “Barn to become architectural wonder,” The Exponent, 19 November 1969, page 13.
45 “Work Con�nues on Barn,” Gallatin County Tribune and Belgrade Journal (Bozeman, MT), 23 April 1970, page 6. Addy can be
forgiven for not understanding that this barn was in fact real and used for beef catle. It is assumed that he was not present for the
cleaning days that occurred soon a�er the catle were moved out of the barn.
46 “Work Con�nues on Barn,” Gallatin County Tribune and Belgrade Journal (Bozeman, MT), 23 April 1970, page 6.
47 “Students save Barn,” The Jordan Tribune (Jordan, MT), 19 February 1971, page 10.
48 “Work Con�nues on Barn, Gallatin County Tribune and Belgrade Journal (Bozeman, MT), 23 April 1970, page 6.
49 “Old MSU Barn Gets New Roof,” Gallatin County Tribune and Belgrade Journal, 27 November 1969, page 9. It is assume this
referred only to the wood shingle roofing and not the roof structure, which does not appear to have been modified, with the excep�on of installa�on of metal plates at the joints of some of the lower members.
50 “MSU Barn saving is almost a barn raising,” The Laurel Outlook, 27 January 1971, page 10.
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birth, the day care moved across the street into a new building...”51 This purpose-built building north of Garfield Street (and the SOB
Barn), is accessed by a circular drive for easy drop-off. It was named the Louise Shrunk Day Care in 1989.52
Instead, from 1976 through 2010, the SOB Barn became the face and storage facility for the Outdoor Recreation Center managed by
the Associated Students of Montana State University (ASMSU). As early as April 1976, the Outdoor Recreation Center (ORC) offered
“…rental of sporting equipment…seminars, clinics, sporting events, general information and a place for interested students to find
others willing to plan trips.” With $10,000 worth of equipment, reasonable rental rates for camping gear, skiing, rafting, and
bicycling, the ORC provided guided trips to Yellowstone National Park, the Missouri River, and Chico Hot Springs, just to name a few
of the activities.53 In 1991, the SOB Barn Club was still going strong, as relayed by the club’s newly elected president, Dena Denny,
who reiterated the stated purpose was to: “…save the popular barn on the MSU campus from destruction years ago. Since then, the
organization has been responsible for the upkeep of the barn, a dance for young participants of Bozeman’s Winter Fair, and an
annual hayride to encourage student relations.”54 Advertisements for fencing and dancing events in the building continued to draw
people to the SOB Barn.
In Spring 2010, the ORC moved out of the SOB Barn and into a new building constructed specifically for their program. This move to
the new ORC building, in a portion of the fields southwest of Roskie Hall, would allow for MSU’s Auxiliary Services department to
move into the barn. In a January 2009 Exponent article about this project, Eric Dietrich related that the SOB Barn needed about $3
million dollars of work to: repair the roof, bring the building up to code, add insulation and fire sprinklers, and an elevator.55 The
remodeling of the SOB Barn was never done, yet the wood shingle roofing was replaced in 2011. Since the Outdoor Recreation
Center moved into their new building in spring 2010, the SOB Barn has been used scarcely. Intermittent use for blood drives, West
African Drum and Dance events, fencing classes, etc. occurred until at least the end of 2013.56
Current Day
The SOB Barn has undergone several changes in its nearly 100 years of service to MSU. Starting as a beef cattle barn, it was
transformed in the early 1970s into the Outdoor Recreation Center and entertainment/teaching complex, with a caretaker’s
apartment on the first floor. Later use included storage for various campus clubs and the upper floor was used for fencing and square
dancing. Various studies have been prepared to determine an appropriate adaptive reuse for the building and to bring it up to the
relevant life safety codes. The building has stood empty since approximately 2014.
The SOB Barn remains the last barn near the campus core. The other barns were removed when replacements were built at the BART
site in 1959 and 1968. The Dairy Barn, which housed the Museum of the Rockies until 1972, was destroyed by fire in 1973.
5. National Register Evaluation and Assessment
HAS A FORMAL ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION BEEN PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR THIS SITE/PROPERTY?
No formal determination Yes, determined NOT eligible Yes, determined eligible Yes, NR listed Unknown
PROVIDE YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE SITE’S/PROPERTY’S ELIGIBILITY FOR THE NATIONAL REGISTER
Meets criteria as an individual property Meets criteria as a contributing element to a historic district
Does not meet criteria Does not meet criteria, and is a non-contributing element to a historic district
51 Barbara L. Riedesel, “Crea�vity, hard work, lead to day care reality,” The Independent-Record, 04 September 1977, page 35.
52 “Former Conrad resident has Center at MSU in her name,” The Independent-Record, 01 June 1989, page 5.
53 Jo Clark, “Rec-Center Offers Info, Clinics, Rentals,” The Exponent, 27 April 1976, page 1. The Billings Gazette, 25 January 1997, page
34. The Billings Gazette, 15 February 1997, page 33. The Billings Gazette, 29 March 1997, page 34.
54 “Denny elected president of two organiza�ons at MSU,” Independent-Observer (Conrad, MT), 29 August 1991, page 10.
55 Eric Dietrich, “The Future of the SOB Barn and Outdoor Recrea�on,” The ASMSU Exponent, 29 January 2009, page 10 and 11.
56 htps://www.montana.edu/calendar/events/9274, 10701, 5044, etc.
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Historic District Name: Montana State University Historic District
APPLICABLE NR CRITERIA+ ARGUMENT FOR OR AGAINST EACH NR CRITERION
A – Events YES NO Significant for contributions to the scientific, commercial, and social development of the
livestock business in Montana, and the sustained efforts of MSU students to Save Our Barn.
B – Persons YES NO No known association with significant historic scientific discoveries.
C – Characteristics YES NO Significant example of wood-framed vernacular cattle barn with classical overtones.
D – Information YES NO No known information associated with significance of the site itself.
COMMENTS
Statement of Significance
The SOB Barn could be included as a contributing building within the Montana State University-Bozeman Historic District, which is
listed under Criteria A and C. Alternatively, the SOB Barn is also eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Constructed in 1924, the SOB Barn is significant under Criterion A in the areas of education and agriculture. Along with the remaining
Agricultural Building (Linfield Hall) and the Extension Building (Taylor Hall), both of which housed the Agricultural Experiment Station
and Extension Service at different times, the SOB Barn contributed heavily to the scientific, commercial, and social development of
the livestock business in Montana. This building also represents the power of the student voice and their collective, sustained, and
effective campaign to save the building from demolition. Their primary goal was to retain a structure that was considered “the last
bit of heritage of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (the forerunner of MSU)” and to provide needed space for
various campus functions. They understood and acted upon the value of adaptive reuse.57 The building is the last vestige of MSC’s
agricultural beginning.
Architecturally, the SOB Barn is significant under Criterion C as the only surviving classically endowed barn building near MSU’s core
campus area. Once surrounded by other barn buildings dating from the early 1900s, by 1973, the SOB Barn became the sole survivor
of the on-campus agricultural experiment station. Its survival was specifically due to its structural stability and ability to adapt to new
uses. The building is also significant as perhaps the last remaining MSU building designed by William R. Plew, who served as Montana State College’s Supervising Architect between 1921 and 1945.58
The Period of Significance begins with the construction of the SOB Barn in 1924 and continues to 1974, when it had been converted
to a new use. The end date would be the present day yet is limited to the standard 50-year stand-back date established to allow time
and perspective to prevail.
Status
The SOB Barn is in its original location, providing clear testimony to the original Experiment Station that was the genesis of Montana
State University. The exterior of the building is intact, with minor changes to the openings (plywood boarding, replacement of some
wood windows with like units, and the addition of two exit doors). The roof has been reclad with wood shingles, in consort with its
original treatment.
The volume of the interior of the barn is intact. The tall and commodious second floor remains a prime example of the original
hayloft – and the large size needed for hay storage. The first floor structure remains intact, yet the original box stalls and rooms were
removed in the early 1970s. The east wing of the first floor has been redivided into different rooms – including a caretaker’s
apartment – yet the original wide hall (driveway) between the columns remains.
57 Kathy Storey, “Barn to become architectural wonder,” The Exponent, 19 November 1969, page 13.
58 This atribu�on might also be applied to the Montana Wool Lab, constructed in 1947, a�er Plew’s 1945 death. The Wool Lab’s 1947
construc�on drawings do not iden�fy Plew as the designer, yet he was involved in the earlier stages of the design. See AER for the
Montana Wool Lab, #24GA1892.
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INTEGRITY (LOCATION, DESIGN, SETTING, MATERIALS, WORKMANSHIP, FEELING, ASSOCIATION)
The exterior of the SOB Barn retains a high degree of integrity. The location, design, materials, workmanship, and feeling have not
changed from their original condition. The setting has changed only in that the buildings and pasture land that originally surrounded
the SOB Barn have been removed, having been replaced with dormitories and parking lots. These changes are the result of a growing
campus. The building’s association with the SOB Barn campaign remains strong.
POSSIBLE IMPACTS TO THE SITE
None known.
6. Information Sources
LIST CITATIONS FOR INFORMATION SOURCES USED TO COMPLETE THIS FORM.
1. MSU Facilities Archives and MSU Special Collections (aerial photographs; The Montanans, The Exponents).
2. Jessie Nunn, National Register Nomination for Montana State University Historic District, 2012.
3. Jessie Nunn, Historic Property Record Form for the Montana Wool Laboratory, 2012.
4. Candace Mastel, Historic Property Record Form for Miller Livestock Pavillion, 2020.
5. Original construction drawings (provided by MSU), May 1924.
6. Deane G. Carter and the late W.A. Foster, Farm Buildings (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., first edi�on 1922; third edi�on 1949). 7. E. W. (Earl Wooddell) Sheets, 1886- & Kelley, M. A. R. (Manley Alexander Raymond), 1888-1943. Beef-Catle
Barns, pamphlet, 1923; Washington D.C.. (htps://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc86047/: accessed December 11,
2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, htps://digital.library.unt.edu; credi�ng UNT Libraries Government
Documents Department.
8. Dena Sanford, DRAFT Na�onal Register Nomina�on for the SOB Barn, September 1993.
7. List of Photos and Maps
IMPORTANT: DO NOT insert images for photos, maps, and other figures to this document. Supporting photographs, maps, and
other figures referenced in the table below need to be formatted, saved, and submitted according to SHPO’s Guidelines and Samples
for CSR/AER Form Attachments. For more detailed mapping and photography standards, please review Montana SHPO Consultation
Guide, 2023.
FIGURE NUMBER DESCRIPTION / CAPTION PHOTOGRAPHER PHOTO DATE
Map 1 Site Overview / location map for SOB Barn at MSU-Bozeman
24GA1892. at 1:24,000 scale. T02S R05E S13. USGS Map of Bozeman,
MT. 2024.
USGS 2024
Map 2 MSU-Bozeman Campus Map – Partial MSU dwg
Figure 1 SOB Barn First Floor Plan MSU dwg
Figure 2 SOB Barn Second Floor Plan MSU dwg
Figure 3 SOB Barn First Floor Photo Key Plan MSU dwg
Figure 4 SOB Barn Second Floor Photo Key Plan MSU dwg
Feature 1 Exterior - facing south, towards north entry façade South, towardçade Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 2 Exterior - facing south, towards entry at north façade Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 3 Exterior – facing southwest, toward tripartite set of columns at front
entry
Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 4 Exterior – facing south, towards north entry doors Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
AER FORM 1
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PO Box 201201 – Helena, MT 59620-1201 | (406) 444-7715 – mtshpo@mt.gov | https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/Forms (AERForm.docx)
Feature 5 Exterior – facing west, towards east elevation Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 6 Exterior - facing northwest, towards typical cornice return Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 7 Exterior – facing north, towards south elevation Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 8 Exterior – facing east, towards West Elevation Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 9 Exterior – facing northeast, towards gable end of west elevation Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 10 Exterior – facing south, towards typical window, at north elevation Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 11 Exterior – facing south, up at the corniced fascia of entry porch Lesley M. Gilmore 3 Nov. 2024
Feature 12 Interior – first floor, facing north, across center hallway into north entry Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 13 Interior – first floor, facing west, through main open space Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 14 Interior – fist floor, facing northwest, across large open space at west
end of building
Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 15 Interior – first floor, facing east, through central hallway Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 16 Interior – first floor, facing west, towards west end of classroom at
north side of building
Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 17 Interior – first floor, facing east, towards east end of classroom at north
side of building
Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 18 Interior – first floor, facing southeast, towards southeastern corner of
building
Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 19 Interior – first floor, facing west, through central hallway Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 20 Interior – facing east, up the stairs to the second floor Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 21 Interior – second floor, facing west, towards west end of main space Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 22 Interior – second floor, facing west and up, towards roof framing Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 23 Interior – second floor, facing south and down, towards stairs down to
first floor
Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 24 Interior – second floor, facing east, towards east end of main space Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 25 Interior – second floor, facing north, up towards roof framing and
belted ceiling fan
Lesley M. Gilmore 14 Oct. 2024
Feature 26 SOB renovation photograph, in The Laurel Outlook. 27 Jan. 1971
Feature 27 MSC Experimental Agriculture Station immediately west of South 11th
Avenue. Facing east, towards Lewis Hall Biology Building.
Post-1923
Feature 28 Beef Cattle Barn - Original first floor plan. May 1924
Feature 29 Beef Cattle Barn - Original footing plan. May 1924
Feature 30 Beef Cattle Barn - Part North Elevation, original construction drawings. May 1924
Feature 31 Beef Cattle Barn - Half South Elevation, original construction drawings. May 1924
Feature 32 Beef Cattle Barn - East Elevation, original construction drawings. May 1924
Feature 33 Beef Cattle Barn - West Elevation, original construction drawings. May 1924
Feature 34 Beef Cattle Barn - Cross-Section, original construction drawings. May 1924
Feature 35 Map of agriculture land on campus. Before 1945
Feature 36 Aerial photograph looking at the campus from the southwest. Ca. 1947
(tab from last cell to add rows to photos and maps table)
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Maps
Property Name: SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Map 1: Site Overview / location map for SOB Barn at MSU-Bozeman 24GA???? at 1:24,000 scale. T02S R05E S13. USGS Map of Bozeman, MT. 2024. North
SOB Barn Area of
Potential Effect
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Maps
Property Name: SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Map 2: MSU-Bozeman Campus Map – Partial. Provided by MSU. North
SOB Barn Area of
Potential Effect
GARFIELD STREET
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Plans
Property Name: SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Figure 1: SOB Barn First Floor Plan. Plan provided by MSU. North
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Plans
Property Name: SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Figure 2: SOB Barn Second Floor Plan. Plan provided by MSU. North
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Plans
Property Name: SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
1
Figure 3: SOB Barn First Floor Photo Key Plan. Plan provided by MSU. North
4
11
2
10
17
16
13
14
12
16 20
19 18
5 6
7
8 9
3
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Plans
Property Name: SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Figure 4: SOB Barn Second Floor Photo Key Plan. Plan provided by MSU. North
23
24
25
22
21
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 1 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: South, towards north entry façade.
Feature 2 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: South, towards entry at north façade.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
Page 8 of 28
Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 3 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: Southwest, toward tripartite set of columns at front entry.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
Page 9 of 28
Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 4 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024.
Facing: South, towards north entry doors.
Feature 5 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: West, towards east elevation.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
Page 10 of 28
Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 6 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: Northwest, towards typical cornice return
Feature 7 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: North, towards south elevation.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 8 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: East, towards West Elevation.
Feature 9 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: Northeast, towards gable end of west elevation.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
Page 12 of 28
Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 10 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024. Facing: South, towards typical window, at north elevation.
Feature 11 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 3 November 2024.
Facing: South, up at the corniced fascia of entry porch.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 9 Description: Heating Plant – West Quonset. 18 October 2022. Facing: Northwest, towards south elevation with wood ledger sliding doors.
Feature 12 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: North, across center hallway into north entry.
Feature 13 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore,
14 October 2024. Facing: West, through main open space.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 14 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024 Facing: Northwest, across large open space at west end of building.
Feature 15 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: East, through central hallway.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 16 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: West, towards west end of classroom at north side of building.
Feature 17 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: East, towards east end of classroom at north side of building.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 18 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: Southeast, towards southeastern corner of building. This room was part of the caretaker’s apartment.
Feature 19 Description: SOB Barn, first floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024.
Facing: West, through central hallway.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 20 Description: SOB Barn. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024.
Facing: East, up the stairs to the second floor.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 21 Description: SOB Barn, second floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: West, towards west end of main space.
Feature 22 Description: SOB Barn, second floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: West and up, towards roof framing.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 23 Description: SOB Barn, second floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore,
14 October 2024. Facing: South and down, towards stairs down to first floor.
Feature 24 Description: SOB Barn second floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024. Facing: East, towards east end of main space.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 25 Description: SOB Barn, second floor. Photo by Lesley M. Gilmore, 14 October 2024.
Facing: North, up towards roof framing and belted ceiling fan.
Feature 26 Description: SOB renovation, in The Laurel Outlook, 27 January 1971, page 10.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 27 Description: MSC Experimental Agriculture Station immediately west of South 11th Avenue. Facing: East, towards Lewis Hall Biology Building, post 1923 construction of Lewis Hall. Note that the Beef Cattle Barn was west of this core group of buildings. The shape and exterior detailing were common to all these agriculture buildings.
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 28 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - Original first floor plan, May 1924. North
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 29 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - Original footing plan, May 1924. North
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 30 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - Part North Elevation, original construction drawings.
Feature 31 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - Half South Elevation, original construction drawings.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 32 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - East Elevation, original construction drawings.
Feature 33 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - West Elevation, original construction drawings.
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 34 Description: Beef Cattle Barn - Cross-Section, original construction drawings.
ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING RECORD
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 35 Description: Map of agriculture land on campus before 1945, with #28 – Beef Cattle Barn (SOB Barn) in circled area south of the experimental plots. North
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Photographs
Property Name:SOB Barn Site Number: 24GA????
Feature 36 Description: Aerial photograph looking at the campus from the southwest, ca. 1947. Red arrow tip points to the Beef Cattle Barn. The main block of experimental agriculture station buildings are
within the red circle. Photograph from the prior MSU Facilities Archives, President’s Records Box 00030 – N2 443.