Noah Armstrong established Doncaster Stable in Twin Bridges to take advantage of the Jefferson River Valley's ample water and rich soil. Armstrong firmly believed that Montana’s high altitude would give his racehorses great lung capacity and endurance. The large, round, three-story barn was completed in 1882. Architecturally stunning with vertical board and batten siding, ornamental window detailing, and an elegant primary entry, it was also technologically advanced. On the first floor, eighteen well-lit stalls around the outer edge allowed the horses to see each other and also gave them outside access to individual pie-shaped paddocks. Outside, there was an oval training track. The main entry could accommodate a ten-horse wagon laden with hay. The second level stored 12,000 bushels of grain and fifty tons of hay while the third floor housed Armstrong’s innovative windmill-driven water system. The barn was the birthplace of Spokane, the only Montana-born horse to win the Kentucky Derby. In 1889 Spokane won the fifteenth Kentucky Derby with a time of 2:34:50. This record time cannot be broken since the track was shortened from 1.5 to 1.25 miles in 1896. Despite the success of his horses, financial reverses during the Silver Panic of 1893 ended Armstrong’s horse breeding. When the property sold to Max Lauterbach in 1900, the ranch shifted from horses to cattle. After 1933, owner Arthur Bayers used the Doncaster Barn for many years as a sale barn for prize Hereford bulls. In 1997, it became part of the Hamilton Ranch.
]]>Post-and-beam construction covered with log-veneer siding characterizes this early building inspired by M. H. Lott and built as a community project by area homesteaders in 1894. It is the only remaining building of the original fairground complex, built when the land was privately owned. Salvaged by the WPA-funded project that rebuilt the fairground in the mid-1930s, its remodeling included the addition of casement windows, a hardwood floor, and the log-veneer siding. The building has always served as a central gathering spot at the fair. In the 1960s, the building was renamed the “Jeffers Building” in honor of Lawrence and Jo Jeffers, whose countless hours devoted to Youth Projects, 4-H, and FFA made them true champions of Madison County’s youth.
]]>WPA engineer C. D. Paxton designed this impressive octagonal community building as part of the federally funded project to rebuild the fairground in 1936. Master log craftsman Tosten Stenberg of WPA headquarters in Livingston supervised the building. The primary construction material is lodgepole pine, chosen for its uniformity and harvested at nearby Ramshorn Creek. Logs are bias-cut and saddle-notched. Poles radiating from a central lantern form the interior rafters and afford a floor space of one hundred feet in diameter. Besides serving as the main hall during fair time, the Pavilion has long been a favorite place for building memories, hosting hundreds of local events. Dances, wedding receptions, family reunions, church functions, political rallies, flea markets, organizational Christmas parties, and even winter roller skating serve to perpetuate the community spirit that built this Madison County treasure.
]]>Early Twin Bridges offered few public gathering places, and so these fifty acres, once part of the Lott and Seidensticker homesteads, were developed as “The Park” in 1887. A “harvest home barbecue” was held that year, and two years later the event had blossomed into the first annual county fair. Early fairs were privately run and later partially supported by the county. Then, as now, the fair gave ranchers and farmers a chance to show their best produce and livestock while promoting local pride and friendly rivalry. In 1928, a depressed economy curtailed the event and in 1930 Madison County purchased the fairground property. The economy worsened during the Great Depression until 1934, when more than half Madison County’s workforce was unemployed. In 1935, the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) approved funding assistance for the rebuilding of the unused fairground. Construction began in 1936, putting a great number of unemployed residents back to work. WPA engineer C. D. Paxton drew the plans and Tosten Stenberg, well known for his log structures in Yellowstone Park, directed construction. Local foreman Fred Sommers was brought out of retirement with a special waiver from Washington to supervise the project. Lodgepole pine, fir logs, and other building materials were gathered locally and prepared by workers on site. When the project was completed in 1937, seven masterfully crafted new buildings and one remodeled 1890s structure lent new significance to the traditional fairground. Today the collection of buildings is architecturally significant for its fine design as well as historically important for its WPA construction using entirely local materials and labor.
]]>