Soldiers' Home Historic District

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Soldiers' Home Historic District
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LocationVeterans Drive, Columbia Falls, Montana
Coordinates 48°21′27″N114°12′37″W / 48.35750°N 114.21028°W / 48.35750; -114.21028 Coordinates: 48°21′27″N114°12′37″W / 48.35750°N 114.21028°W / 48.35750; -114.21028
Area147 acres (59 ha)
Built1896 (1896)
Built byFred Whiteside
Architect Charles S. Haire
Architectural style Colonial Revival, Queen Anne
NRHP reference No. 94000385 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 21, 1994

The Soldiers' Home Historic District, a historic Old soldiers' home campus, is located in Columbia Falls, Flathead County, Montana.

Contents

The 147 acres (59 ha) historic district has 9 listed buildings, designed in the Victorian Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. [2] [3]

Originally called the Montana State Soldiers' Home, and now the Montana Veterans' Home, the institution has served veterans since 1896. [4] The mission of the home is, "to honor the service of Montana’s veterans by serving them in turn in their time of need." [5]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

History

In the 1890s, Montana had 25 Civil War veterans living on county poor farms, out of a total of 2,500 veterans. In 1895, the Montana State legislature responded to lobbying by the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) and authorized the establishment of a soldiers' home. Columbia Falls was selected out of a group of eight communities. Its citizens donated $3,100. Additionally, 147 acres of land were donated by the Northern Improvement Co., a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway.

Charles S. Haire designed the old main building, which was built by Fred Whiteside, a builder and Montana politician, in 1896.

Haire also designed a small hospital in 1900. The hospital became the Commandant's House in 1980. A new, larger hospital built in 1908 has since been demolished. The 1919 Service Building has a chapel, and housed the employees of the home. A cemetery was established in 1897. [5]

A new housing facility for veterans, the Montana Veterans' Home, was opened by Montana Governor Forrest H. Anderson at an official dedication ceremony in 1970. [6] It provides housing and subsistence to veterans, and in some cases, to veterans' spouses. [7]

An E. M. Viquesney statue of a World War I doughboy was moved to the front of the Veterans' Home in 1972. The statue originally stood in front of the Flathead County Courthouse in Kalispell, in Main Street's median. [8]

See also

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References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "MONTANA (MT), Flathead County". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  3. "Soldiers' Home Historic District, Record Number 421262". National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service Digital Library. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  4. "Montana Veterans' Home - Columbia Falls". Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services - Senior & Long Term Care. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  5. 1 2 "National Register - Flathead: Columbia Falls - Montana State Soldier's Home Historic District". Montana History Wiki. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  6. Montana Veterans Home (1970). History and future of Montana Veterans' Home, Columbia Falls, Montana. Columbia Falls, MT. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  7. "Montana State Veteran's Benefits". Military.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  8. "Columbia Falls, Montana Viquesney Doughboy Statue". The E. M. Viquesney Doughboy Database. Retrieved 2014-02-06.