Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory (Site #127)
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Address: |
111 West Main |
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Ownership Name: |
Wier Furniture |
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Historic Name: |
Green Block |
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Common Name: |
Serv-ur-Self Furniture |
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Date of Construction: |
1909 |
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Architect: |
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Builder: |
Andrew Green |
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Original Owner: |
Andrew Green |
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Original Use: |
Commercial |
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Present Use: |
Furniture Store |
Physical Description:
A two-story "cast stone" (in this case, the concrete was cast to look like cut stone) flat roof commercial structure with a sheet metal pediment projected above the roofline and a sheet metal entablature. Repetition of the mold marks within the façade can be seen in the façade is studied carefully. The projected "pediment" is rectangular and proportionally small; the word "Green" is displayed in raised letters and is flanked by two rosettes. The entablature includes cornice, frieze, and architrave and is of the Greek Doric order in origin with undecorated plain metopes and triglyphs; remaining elements are without decoration. The parapet is capped with a precast concrete coping. Second floor windows are rectangular wood double hung 1/1 windows in a flush wall with a cast-in-place concrete belt course at the head of the window that also acts as a lintel. The first floor is of remodeled materials; the back (southeast) wall is "giant" concrete block. The foundation is sandstone.
This structure qualifies for register listing under Criteria C. It contributes to the character of Main Street and is the last remaining example of cast stone within the survey area.
Classification: mixed’ "borrowed" stone craftsman with minimal classical influences.
Historical Significance:
The Green Block was built in 1909, a period of great prosperity and growth in Lewistown. "Trading post" architecture rapidly gave way to permanent masonry building in the first 10 years of the 20th Century. Andrew Green, who manufactured concrete blocks as early as 1908, built the Green Block utilizing his "rock face" concrete blocks on the buildings’ façade.
The Green Block housed the Lewistown Grocery Company, with e. K. Cherrington, F. S. Struckler and Russel P. Krieger, proprietors; the Lewistown Meat Company with Robert C. Lowman and Joseph Dugart, proprietors, and Alice and William Brownfield managed the European Hotel on the second floor.
Integrity: Intact above the first floor; the first floor has been altered. The structure is on its original site and the "stone" appearance strongly contributes to the masonry character of the area.
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