Featured Stories
Roosevelt Arch
In April 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the Roosevelt Arch, a massive, Rustic style monument that symbolically marked the entrance into Yellowstone National Park. The only…
Lonetree
Christopher and Edward Wilson chose this narrow canyon as headquarters for their ranching operation in 1887. The brothers lived in a dugout while they built a more serviceable two-room cabin using…
Rocky Mountain Laboratories Historic District
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), or "black measles," fatal in eighty percent of adult cases, plagued early-day settlers in the Bitterroot Valley. In 1906 Howard Ricketts identified ticks as…
Featured Tours
Red Lodge Commercial Historic District
23 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Big – Montana's Historic Places TeamHelena West Main Street Historic District
2 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Big – Montana's Historic Places TeamTransportation Tourism
16 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Big – Montana's Historic Places TeamRecent Stories
Masonic Temple
Seventeen charter members formed Kalispell Lodge No. 42 in 1892. Masons first held lodge meetings in several locations. Work began on this building in 1904, but when the Great Northern Railway moved its division point to Whitefish, the town paused…
Anderson Style Shop
When the railroad bypassed Demersville in 1891, many businessmen loaded their buildings onto log rollers, hauling them three miles to the newly platted community of Kalispell. This lot became home to a two-story Demersville building, occupied first…
Bannack Historic District
Bannack epitomizes the tough, primitive towns that sprang up with gold discoveries. Its story also illustrates a century of survival, through boom and bust periods associated with resource extraction and technological advances. On July 28, 1862,…
Edward H. Cooney Residence
A planned, tree-lined neighborhood away from the town’s industrial activity, the Northside welcomed Great Falls’ business and professional community. Charles Lemley, owner of the Bon Ton Confectionery, chose to build his family home here in 1900. The…
Pouder Furniture Building
Situated in the heart of the extended commercial railroad corridor that developed in the 1910s, this vernacular Western Commercial style building on its prominent corner anchors the historic district. Built circa 1916, Howard J. Pouder and his wife…
Montana State Capitol Building
The gentle rise overlooking the Helena Valley enhances the stately character of the "People’s House." It is Montana’s grandest public space and a stunning example of high style public architecture. Iowa architects Charles Bell and John Kent designed…
Explore Big – Montana's Historic Places
A project by Montana Historical SocietyExploreBig: Montana’s Historic Places is a free mobile app to help you discover Montana’s rich cultural resources. Curated by the Montana Historical Society, ExploreBig shares the history and architecture of selected buildings, neighborhoods, and cultural sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the nation's official list of cultural resources deemed worthy of preservation. The app’s mobile markers reproduce National Register signs placed at the sites themselves as part of a program, funded through the state’s accommodations tax, to improve public knowledge and promote historic preservation. Read more About Us