Page 51 - Flathead Living // Spring 2015

museum full of historical artifacts, the building already has a lot of history to offer within its walls. Built in 1896, it is the oldest building on the campus of the Montana State Soldiers’ Home Historic District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994.
In the 1890s, roughly 2,500 Civil War veterans lived in Montana, with a number of them in rural areas without adequate services. An influential veterans’ organiza- tion called the Grand Army of the Republic pressed the state Legislature to provide a care facility for these veterans, who often had special needs either because of age or
health problems stemming from their ser- vice. In 1895, the Legislature authorized the construction of a veterans’ home.
Eight towns sought the facility, according to a 2014 report on heritage properties by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Columbia Falls emerged as the favorite thanks to thousands of dol- lars from local residents and a 147-acre land donation from the Northern International Improvement Co., a subsidiary of Great Northern Railway. Northern International Improvement Co. sweetened the deal with free installation of the boiler, pump, engine, and tanks.
LEFT The historic “Old Main” on the Montana Veterans’ Home campus in Columbia Falls.
TOP RIGHT A historical photograph from the Old Main’s dedication in 1896, courtesy of the Museum at Central School.
BOTTOM RIGHT Ron Beard consults a map of Old Main.
SPRING 2015 | FLATHEAD LIVING 49