{"id":2368,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-06-30 01:51:55","latitude":46.8806009999999986348484526388347148895263671875,"longitude":-113.99734699999999065767042338848114013671875,"title":"906 Worden Avenue","subtitle":"Northside Missoula Railroad Historic District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/337091dc74c98b9c10f24177244814dd.jpg","address":"906 Worden Avenue, Missoula, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"As Hellgate trading post grew into Missoula after 1860, farms sprouted north of the city center. The 1883 arrival of the Northern Pacific railroad brought residential construction to the Northside. The new neighborhood housed mainly railroad workers, many of them immigrants who came via the Midwest. Among them were Swedish-born John and Johana Swanson, who farmed in Wisconsin before buying this lot in 1897. They built this wood-frame, gable-front-and-wing house (with kitchen under separate roof in case of fire) that reflected the vernacular National Folk style. This style proliferated in the late nineteenth-century with the advent of balloon framing and the spread of railroads (which made lumber affordable). It proved popular on the Northside: larger versions often occupied corner lots. John and Johana also built a small alley house, presumably a rental, a common neighborhood feature. A railroad family, the Swansons raised seven children on John’s railway wages, two of whom also worked for the railroad. In 1918, eldest daughter Emma Strothman moved home from Spokane after her husband, also a railroader, died. Emma, a rural mail carrier, lived here until her death in 1969.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Private","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/950b1eee-3709-4493-90e6-3ba65f48617a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read about the Northside Missoula Railroad Historic District</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/fbe1bdb6-8d94-4546-b194-b2d6e6bb3239/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of the Northside Missoula Railroad Historic District</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/337091dc74c98b9c10f24177244814dd.jpg":{"id":6525,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"906 Worden Avenue","description":"View of facade, facing east from Worden Avenue.  | Montana Historical Society | June 2026 | Arizona Duff","alt":"alt=&quot;&quot;","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/337091dc74c98b9c10f24177244814dd.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/444bc071c8fc17a55f64a8c54230bcf0.jpg":{"id":6524,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"906 Worden Avenue","description":"Front/side view of residence, facing northeast from Worden Avenue near the corner with North 2nd Street West.  | Montana Historical Society | June 2026 | Arizona Duff","alt":"alt=&quot;&quot;","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/444bc071c8fc17a55f64a8c54230bcf0.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/87de8f6ebb24843c9acb1f94401bb264.jpg":{"id":2843,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"906 Worden Avenue","description":"Front to side view of the house, facing east on Worden Avenue near the intersection of Worden and Kennett Avenue. Black and white photograph.  | Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society, PAc 91-51 Northside Missoula R0134 F23 | Mar. 1994 | Allan Matthews","alt":"alt=&quot;&quot;","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/87de8f6ebb24843c9acb1f94401bb264.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/0cd9eba28dc1dfc34971da3279ea0c7c.jpg":{"id":2844,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"906 Worden Avenue","description":"Front to side view of the house, facing northeast on Worden Avenue. Black and white photograph.  | Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society, PAc 91-51 Northside Missoula R0134 F24.  | Mar. 1994 | Allan Matthews","alt":"alt=&quot;&quot;","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/0cd9eba28dc1dfc34971da3279ea0c7c.jpg"}}}