Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory (Site # 192)

Address:	712 West Main Street
Ownership Name:	Fergus County
Historic Name:	Fergus County Courthouse
Common Name:	Fergus County Courthouse
Date of Construction:	1907
Architect:	Newton C. Gauntt
Builder:	William Oliver
Original Owner:	Fergus County
Original Use:	County Government
Present Use:	County Government

Physical Description:

As the symbolic and functional seat of county government, this grand structure of three stories occupies an entire maturely landscaped block at the southwest end of Main Street. The profile of the courthouse is dominated by curvilinear gables or crow steppes on every side, and the entire composition is crowned by a centrally located geometric dome. The dome rests upon a story height octagonal belvedere with arched round windows to admit light into central skylights below. The dome hosts four clocks near the top that are aligned with the axis of the building. The dome and belvedere are separated by a linear cornice; a captains walk encircles the pilastered belvedere. The upper façade features a strong cornice supported on modillions below the brick parapet. Tripart windows with hood molds are centered below the curvilinear gables to provide light to the fourth level (attic) line of the cornice. The exterior wall is two color brick: dark brick is applied to the first floor and surrounds second and third floor windows with flush quoins; the remainder of the wall is lighter colored brick. Giant order (2 story) pilasters provide relief for the wall beginning at the bottom of first floor windows and culminating in Ionic capitals below the cornice above. Two large arches are evident: one over the main entry doors on the southeast and the other admitting light into the central marble stairway from the northwest elevation. The entry arch is terra cotta, has a projected molding at the extrados of the arch, and has the words "Fergus County Courthouse" inscribed in the terra cotta. An exaggerated foliated keystone (console shaped) decorates the arch. A section of the sheet metal cornice is repeated below the arch. A part of circular two story freestanding Ionic columns flank this entryway and arch. Smaller one story freestanding Ionic columns grace the southwest entry. All entries are surrounded by divided light sidelights and transoms with a "crossbuck over square" pattern. A fountain and other site objects are associated with this structure. A modest two story cut stone jail with medium slope hip roof occupies a section of the block immediately north (northwest) of the Courthouse. The roof is red stamped metal "shingles", the fascia is a narrow molded wood member. The cornice is boxed and a pattern of "beam ends" (similar to exposed rafters) decorates the soffitt. This structure is connected to the Courthouse on the second floor with a covered brick bridge. The jail houses the heating system for the courthouse complex and a large brick chimney extends up the southwest wall of the structure to accommodate that function. The bridge roof matches the jail, and supporting girders of cast-in-place concrete are evident from below.

Classification

Courthouse – mission style with Spanish colonial influence.

Jail – stone craftsman some stylized elements; compatible with Courthouse.

Historical Significance

The Fergus County Courthouse, begun in 1907 to accommodate the business of the rapidly growing county, represents the move by many fledgling Montana communities to erect permanent masonry buildings. The finely preserved Courthouse remains a very prominent structure on Lewistown’s Main Street, standing in the center of a tree shaded city block.

A significant portion of Lewistown’s architecture is native stone, built mainly between 1900 and 1915. This building "boom" and the abundance of nearby building stone drew a large number of stonemasons, who were readily employed to assist in the building of a permanent city.

The Fergus County Commissioner accepted the plans of architect Newton C. Gauntt of North Yakima, Washington, following a competition for the design of the new structure. The bid for construction was let to William Oliver of Spokane, Washington. Dissatisfaction with the letting of the bid to Mr. Oliver and the planned use of brick instead of native stone prompted a great public controversy which culminated in a permanent injunction restraining the commissioners and the contractor from fulfilling the contract. The injunction was granted on the technicality of exceeding the $100,000 authorized by the vote of the electors for that purpose and not the charges of bad faith and fraud charged by a local contractor, who had been an unsuccessful bidder on the job.

Faced with the problem of keeping the Courthouse construction well within the limits of $100,000 and strictly injunction proof, the commissioners re-appointed architect Gauntt to draw plans, somewhat reduced in scale, and on August 12, 1907, accepted the only construction bid, that of William Oliver.

Finally after the six-month delay caused by the injunction proceedings, the cornerstone was laid on August 25, 1908. The newly constructed Courthouse was turned over to the Board of County Commissioners in mid-February, 1909. The total cost of the new structure added up to a total of $130,330.

The jail, built in 1904 by Tubb Bros., was designed by architect C. E. Bell.