Notes - Deer Lodge Butte architects

From ENHLDWiki

This is from the Deer Lodge NR nomination [1]

An excellent example of a Western Commercial style building with Neoclassical influence is the historic Larabie Brothers Bank, which was constructed in 1912 and opened in late March of that year. This two-story building is located at 401 Main Street. It has a flat roof, rests on a concrete foundation and is constructed of reinforced concrete. The building exhibits Neoclassical influence with its wide, heavy pilasters that run from the foundation to above the roof, and are linked by a roofline balustrade. The windows are symmetrically balanced with large, plate glass windows on the first story and fixed, three-pane windows on the second story. The plate glass windows were reported in 1912 to be a "striking feature and give a peculiar attractiveness to the exterior view (The Silver State, March 27, 1912:1)." The main entry faces Main Street and is offset with a large plate glass window to the right. The entry is surrounded by a gabled pediment that is accented with scrolled brackets. The windows and doors of the building are wood-frame and the windows are inset, rather than flush with the exterior. Decorative stamped concrete accents the roofline below the balustrade, and the exterior is covered in a smooth concrete or stucco. The bank was constructed on the same lot where Larabie had been operating for many years, as the lot had served as the home of the original Donnell, Clark and Larabie Bank. The original building was a single-story building constructed in the late 1870s. The new building was said to be constructed of "sandstone and brick, with a full frontage, and running back 70 feet (The Silver State, April 5, 1911:1)." The interior was designed with various colors of marble and solid mahogany woodwork, which included the desks. The Silver State reported in 1912 that the new bank building had opened and all men doing business on opening day were to receive a cigar. The honor of making the first deposit went to the architect supervisor of the building construction, M.J. Beezer of Seattle, Washington (The Silver State, March 27, 1912:1). The original bank partners included Robert W. Donnell, who owned mercantile businesses in Virginia City and Helena in the mid 1860s. He opened a mercantile in Deer Lodge around 1865 and Samuel E. Larabie and W.A. Clark soon became involved in his firm. They all sold out of the mercantile business in 1869 and became bankers. Donnell moved to New York and retired but continued to have interest in the Deer Lodge banking business. He eventually lost interest, and Larabie and Clark went their separate ways. Larabie, along with his brother Charles, operated the Deer Lodge branch bank until 1933. During this time, Clark was busy becoming one of Montana’s well-known copper kings. Clark's brother, J.Ross Clark, ran the Butte Branch of the bank that they had opened in 1877. By the 1980s the Larabie Brothers Bank building was utilized as offices for Montana Power, and today houses a commercial business. In 1921, the Deer Lodge Bank & Trust Co. opened at 430 Main Street. The bank was the brainchild of Senator C.H. Williams, who partnered with Peter Pauley to have the bank constructed. Pauley had purchased the old McBurney Hotel estate, and offered a portion of the site for the new bank building. The additional portion of the lot was offered to Jens Hansen Sr. for construction of the Rialto Theatre. Both buildings appear to have been constructed at the same time. At this time, it is unknown who the architect of the Deer Lodge Bank & Trust Co. building was, but it is reported to have been a Butte firm, and could have possibly been Arnold and Van Hausen, who constructed the Rialto. This speculation is due in part to the timing of construction, and also due to the fact that the bank building design and massing fit in nicely with the Rialto. The bank prospered, even through Depression and banking crisis of 1932, while the other banks (Larabie Bros. and U.S. Bank) did not.

This old U.S. National Bank was constructed in 1910 on the lot of the old brewery. The architect for the bank was Herman Kemna of Butte, and the building contract was awarded to George H. Wortman Company, also of Butte. Wortman was one of five bidders for the project (contractor, dirt work, and building removal), coming in with the lowest bid between 11,000 and 12,000 dollars. The building was erected by Conley and McTague. Wortman Company's contract in part, was to tear down the old buildings left by the brewery to include an old stone beer cellar. The bank building was designed as a single-story brick building with basement, and was designed so an additional story could be added if needed. The ground floor was to be occupied by the bank, while the basement was designed to provide "quarters for a first class barber shop with modern bath rooms…" The bathrooms were to be public (The Silver State, April 6 1910:1).

The war years put a damper on some construction in Deer Lodge, with construction picking up again around 1919. The buildings constructed around this time period were often civic oriented (i.e. City Hall and Elks Building), and they displayed classical elements. The Deer Lodge City Hall, designed by Butte architect M.A. Van House, was constructed in 1919 at a cost of approximately Page 18 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No.1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 14 DRAFT $75,000.00. Van House utilized stone from the Territorial Prison forms for the building’s foundation and footings (DLHPC, c.2000). City Hall is a two-story brick building with a bell tower and clock that is centrally placed in the front. The tower exhibits a low- pitched hipped roof with wide eaves and a heavy cornice. The building is long and rectangular, with a flat roof and a shaped parapet along the façade. Heavy concrete pilasters resting on square piers rise to support a flat roofed pediment below the roofline. The building has fixed as well as 2/1 and 6/6 windows, many of which are accented with stone sills and surrounds. The second level of City Hall has an auditorium with maple flooring, and this portion of the building was utilized to make clothing for the area's poor during the Great Depression.

Leopold F. Schmidt, who had worked for Peter Valiton's brewery, became a prominent booster of Deer Lodge, erecting downtown buildings including the Deer Lodge Hotel, in which he served as the largest shareholder. He operated breweries in Deer Lodge and Butte, and he later founded the Olympia Brewing Company in Washington. Leopold and his brother arrived in Montana in 1871, via Fort Benton. Having insufficient funds to pay for the overland passage at the time of their arrival, they walked from the fort to Helena, Page 43 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No.1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 18 DRAFT and earned enough money mining to pay to have their baggage shipped. In Helena, Leopold worked as a carpenter, his newly acquired trade. He soon traveled to Butte where he built thirty wood-frame structures (likely residential). In Butte he partnered up with John M. Bowes and they advertised locally that they were contractors and builders and could provide custom made coffins. During this time he befriended Peter Charles Valiton who owned the Deer Lodge Brewery. Valiton's health was poor in 1874, and seeking to return to Europe's Baden-Baden health spa for a short time, he asked Schmidt to oversee the brewery. When Valiton returned, he entered the wholesale wine and liquor business and sold the brewery to Leopold, who in 1875 formed a partnership with Valiton's brewer, Raymond Saile. The two established the Centennial Brewery in Butte, named for the nation's 100th anniversary. After the completion of the brewery, he dissolved his partnership with Bowes in 1876, and his building activity ceased. The new brewery's trademark was a horseshoe, which was a component of the Schmidt coat of arms. This component went on to become one of the most recognizable brewing trademarks with the Tumwater Falls cascading from a horseshoe. Schmidt went on to become a prominent member of Butte. He served as County Commissioner of Silver Bow County, and served two terms in the Montana House of Representatives. Due to his expertise in the building trades he served as a member of Montana's Capitol Building Commission. Leopold died in Bellingham Washington, in 1914.

Herman Kemna is also known for designing the Thomas Block in Butte, Montana. The Thomas Block was designed as a building with the Marquette Billiard Hall above, with commercial businesses and office space below. Built in 1913 for Adolph Pincus, the building was a credit to Buttes strong economy.