The Soldiers' Home Historic District, a historic Old soldiers' home campus, is located in Columbia Falls, Flathead County, Montana.
Soldiers' Home Historic District | |
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| Location | Veterans Drive, Columbia Falls, Montana |
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| Coordinates | 48°21′27″N 114°12′37″W / 48.35750°N 114.21028°W |
| Area | 147 acres (59 ha) |
| Built | 1896 |
| Built by | Fred Whiteside |
| Architect | Charles S. Haire |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Queen Anne |
| NRHP reference No. | 94000385[1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 21, 1994 |
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
editIn 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
editReferences
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "MONTANA (MT), Flathead County". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
- ^ "Soldiers' Home Historic District, Record Number 421262". National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service Digital Library. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
- ^ "Montana Veterans' Home - Columbia Falls". Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services - Senior & Long Term Care. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
- ^ a b "National Register - Flathead: Columbia Falls - Montana State Soldier's Home Historic District". Montana History Wiki. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ^ Montana Veterans Home (1970). History and future of Montana Veterans' Home, Columbia Falls, Montana. Columbia Falls, MT. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Montana State Veteran's Benefits". Military.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
- ^ "Columbia Falls, Montana Viquesney Doughboy Statue". The E. M. Viquesney Doughboy Database. Retrieved February 6, 2014.