Italian stonemason Michael Jacobs built this outstanding Eclectic style house for his family in 1907. Born Michelangelo Jacobucci, Jacobs apprenticed in Vinchiaturo, Italy, before joining his brother Gabriel in the United States circa 1878. The brothers soon found work in Chicago, where Michael also attended night school in architecture. In 1901, the Montana Sandstone Company recruited Jacobs to become foreman of the Columbus quarry, best known for providing the stone for the Montana state capitol. By 1906, he had become superintendent. He later formed Stillwater Monumental Works, which created ornately carved cemetery markers. Jacobs’ skill and building trades connections are apparent in the sandstone residence. In 1906, Jacobs shared a floorplan his wife Hannah had sketched with noted Helena architect J. G. Link and asked Link to draw up plans. In 1907, when orders were slow, he kept his quarrymen busy cutting stone for the house. Huge sandstone blocks from Jacobs’ quarry form the exterior walls. Jacobs likely carved the intricate sandstone details himself, including the decorative flowers and scrollwork, balustrades, finials, and a carved lion’s head, which functions as a downspout. The home’s Renaissance Revival elements include its low-pitched, hipped roof, Corinthian columns, and arched windows. The most prominent decorative feature is the curvilinear stone parapet. The parapet’s shape, if not its material, mimics those found on Spanish Colonial style missions. Jacobs may have encountered the style at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, where the design of the California Building brought it to public attention.
]]>Carved out of Yellowstone, Carbon, and Sweet Grass Counties in 1913, Stillwater County was one of twenty-six counties established between 1910 and 1920. These new counties grew from a widespread belief in Montana’s continuing growth and prosperity—sustained by the arrival of thousands of homesteaders. The Progressive Era’s commitment to representative, responsive government also argued for smaller counties, placing county seats within easy reach. Stillwater County originally provided services from a rented building on Pike Avenue, in Columbus. In March 1918, commissioners of the flourishing county decided to build a temple to justice. World War I caused them to defer their plans so as not to divert funds and materials from the war effort, but when the war ended, so did the economic boom. Drought and low commodity prices brought hardship to farmers, ranchers, and business owners. Nevertheless, county residents voted to support a $75,000 bond in 1919. Billings architect Warren A. Dedrick designed the Neoclassical style brick courthouse. Two-story Ionic columns flank the main entrance of the imposing building, which is trimmed throughout with “artificial” stone. Budget shortfalls dogged the project after struggling citizens rejected a second bond issue in 1920. When county officials moved into the courthouse in May 1921, much of the interior remained incomplete. However, Stillwater County persevered over the years, slowly finishing construction and landscaping. The courthouse’s Neoclassical details denote permanence and remain a symbol of civic pride and commitment to democratic ideals, with the building serving as the center for local government, law, and justice.
]]>William H. and Eliza Norton’s elegant center-gabled brick home remains a symbol of the Norton’s substantial contributions in developing Columbus and Stillwater County. Built of local brick in 1899, the home, embellished by an ornate front porch, is still one of the most impressive residences in Columbus. The Nortons spared no expense, especially on the unusually sturdy load-bearing brick walls. At about thirty inches thick, the walls could have supported several more stories. Norton, nicknamed “Colonel,” arrived in Virginia City in 1866, taking jobs in farming, mining, and freighting. After the relocation of Crow Agency, south of Absarokee, in 1875 Norton opened a trading post with Horace Countryman near Columbus. In early July 1876, Norton relayed the first news of General Custer’s defeat at Little Bighorn to the Helena Herald; the story was picked up nationwide. Later that summer, he married Eliza Labey and worked at Crow Agency. After the arrival of the railroad in 1882, Colonel Norton built a mercantile, and in 1889 settled on lands that later became part of the townsite of Columbus. Over the next ten years, the Nortons established a sheep ranch and invested in the development of the local stone quarry, the opera house, the creamery, the flour mill, and the hospital. Colonel Norton served on many local boards and commissions and as territorial, then state, representative from Yellowstone County. After Stillwater County was created in 1913, the Nortons sold the courthouse block, including their home, to the county for $7,000.
]]>Located on the road half way between Absarokee and Columbus, this substantial two-story farmhouse has long been a landmark in the Stillwater River Valley. The classic American Four-Square style dwelling was common throughout rural America and reflective of the simplicity of the times. Built in 1907 by Everett McBride, it was among the first large residences in the area. A farmer, Everett experimented with different types of crops and sold apples grown in an orchard adjacent to the house. McBride and his wife, Lydia, celebrated the completion of the house by throwing a well-publicized party for their neighbors that lasted until after dawn the following day. These proud owners began a long tradition of providing a hearty meal and a place to stay for travelers. Everett and Lydia McBride left Montana in 1910, leaving this house as a legacy to the Stillwater Valley. Over the years and through several owners, the Halfway House maintained its well-deserved reputation for hospitality and as a safe haven from inclement weather. Indeed, one visitor later wrote, “Many are the freighters who have stopped for a drink at the well and if perchance it was the noon or supper hour have tied their horses in the barn and enjoyed a meal.” While the freighters are long gone, the Halfway House remains a familiar sight to travelers on the Absarokee–Columbus Road.
]]>Billings architect Curtis Oehme designed the Atlas Block, constructed in 1915-16 of locally quarried sandstone. Rusticated pilasters project above the roofline, and a checkerboard patterned frieze enlivens the cornice. The solid two-story building has always served as Columbus’s social center. Even before its interior was completed, both the Catholic Altar Society and the local fire department held balls here, and the Rebekahs, Odd Fellows, and Masons began meeting on the second floor. Annin and Banks moved their dry goods store into the east bay in early March 1916, and on March 27, 1916, Mike Jacobs and Tom Mulvihill held a grand opening for the Atlas Bar, which occupied the west half of the building. Divided into several “departments,” the Atlas offered a smoking room and cigar stand; a billiards parlor, decorated with the bar’s famous animal mounts; a saloon; a three-lane bowling alley; and a sandwich shop. A separate “ladies entrance” opened to a “ladies sitting room.” Boasting one of the best preserved bar interiors in Montana, the Atlas retains its pressed metal ceilings, oak floors, and a Brunswick-Balke-Collender mahogany front and back bar, adorned with Corinthian capitals and three half arches decorated with lion heads. A second Brunswick back bar on the opposite wall is now used only for decoration. Owners sold soft drinks, ice cream, cigars, and sporting goods during Prohibition, reopening the bar after its repeal in 1933. Members of the Mulvihill family continued to operate the Atlas until 1997, offering hospitality to locals and travelers for over eighty years while preserving a Stillwater monument.
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