412 North Custer

Building contractor Ernest Adler, a German immigrant and one of Hardin’s most prolific builders, constructed these attached, flat-roofed storefronts between 1914 and 1920 on the edge of the business district. The one-story brick business block housed a plumbing supply store in the north storefront and a sheet metal warehouse and paint and wallpaper store in the south. Later, the building’s southern portion was occupied by a car garage, gas station, and electrical supply house, and by the Hardin Creamery from 1932 to 1950. The building remained a creamery, manufacturing butter and ice cream until 1960, when Bud and Doris Novark opened Bud’s Freezer and Locker Service. Several rear additions, including concrete block apartments, expanded the structure, and the front façade was remodeled in 1984, but elements from the historic period remain. The use of glass block for the transom suggests that Hardin in the 1910s was an up-to-date and forward-looking community, as this material, originally developed in the early 1900s, was first used in manufacturing plants to brighten interiors with natural light while providing durability and insulation.

Hardin, Montana · United States