Montana Building

The Montana Building, an elaborate six-story brick structure in Lewistown, stood in 1916 as a visible sign of the town’s stability and prosperity and as the architectural anchor of the Central Business District. Its mixed Neoclassical and Revival design, created by J. G. Link and C. S. Haire, and its white terra cotta Beaux Arts façade reflected the construction methods and materials of the period and signaled the end of Lewistown’s greatest period of growth. The building originally housed the Bank of Fergus County and the Montana Hardware Company. Drought and depression later brought anxiety for the owners, and the county acquired partial ownership in lieu of taxes. A massive homestead exodus in 1924 led to the bank’s closure, after which the First National Bank was established and opened in the building in December 1924. Montana Hardware relocated in 1960, and the bank expanded to occupy the entire first floor. The Montana Building remains an excellent example of its period and a monument to the community’s optimism.

Lewistown, Montana · United States