Founded in 1885 by a group of attorneys, bankers, politicians, mining, livestock and timber magnates and self-described capitalists, the original Montana Club, designed by architects John C. Paulsen and John LaValle, was constructed on this site in 1891-1893. It served as a meeting place for the movers and shakers of Montana until the fateful day in 1903 when an arsonist set fire to the place. It was sufficiently burned as to be declared a total loss and what remained was demolished.
The fire was set by the 14-year-old son of the bartender, a boy who had started previous fires, and who actually rode to the site with the firefighters, later explaining that his motive "was to have the horses [that pulled the fire engine] run." The boy was sent to reform school for the offense, but his father kept his job at the club for several more decades.
From Wiki
When the writers of the American Guide Series book, Montana, A State Guide Book, passed through Helena they made mention of a few of the more notable fixtures in the town, one being the 1905 Montana Club. It doesn't really stand
on the site of the Last Chance gold discovery, as they noted, but it is nearby.
The MONTANA CLUB (open on application), 6th and Fuller Avenues, stands on the site of the first gold discovery in Last Chance Gulch in 1864, an event commemorated by a bronze tablet on the Fuller Avenue side of the building. The seven-story brick and stone structure was designed by Cass Gilbert in early Italian Renaissance style. The rooms are richly furnished and decorated with mahogany woodwork and many murals and other paintings. On the membership rolls of the club, a social and recreational organization, are the names of some of the State's most distinguished citizens.
From Montana, a state guide book, Page 165
In 1903 renowned architect Cass Gilbert, architect of the Minnesota State Capitol and New York City’s famed Woolworth Building, was hired to draw up plans for a new building, which was completed in 1905, staging its grand reopening on October 30, 1905. Gilbert incorporated the entrance from the original building into the plans, the building itself ultimately being quite similar to the original. The building stands on the northwest corner of the intersection of 6th Avenue and Fuller Avenue, two streets which meet at considerably less than a 90 degree angle. The resulting trapezoidal lot resulted in a trapezoidal building, now better known as a
Flatiron.
With changing times and changing political sensibilities, such things as purely private men's clubs, available only to the very wealthy, have fallen out of favor, but the Montana Club has continued, though no longer in its original role. The club has recently been opened to the public, accepting both men and women, while continuing to operate under the name of the
Montana Club. Currently transitioning to a Cooperative Association, the club is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 to closing. With a BLT Burger at $15 and a New York Steak at $32, better bring lots of bread. Their most expensive dish, incidentally, is a Tomahawk Steak ($100) -
4½ pound certified Angus beef, pan seared and served with confit garlic Yukon mashed potatoes, grilled leeks & smoked Maldon sea salt. Ostensibly it will serve 1-4 people.
Further below is a news article from the fateful day, April 27, 1903, on which the Montana Club burned.
Name Address Style Date Status
Montana Club 24 W. 6th Arts and Crafts 1905 Primary
Montana Club
The Montana Club was designed by Cass Gilbert in 1905, following a fire which destroyed the former club building. Gilbert was one of many notable 20th century architects to have a hand in shaping Helena's built environment. The building served as a focal point to the architecture completed toward the north end of the commercial district following the turn-or-the-century.
From the NRHP Registration Form