{"id":2791,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:14","latitude":45.29342472258185381406292435713112354278564453125,"longitude":-111.944725779267855614307336509227752685546875,"title":"City Hall/Elks Club, Virginia City","subtitle":"Virginia City Historic District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/32769bc39ef8ce3b7303db1f15353519.jpg","address":"208 Wallace Street, Virginia City, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"Dredge mining in the late 1890s brought new life to Virginia City and a dire need for modern office and meeting space. In 1896, town citizens voted to issue bonds to build a multipurpose City Hall with space for the city, law offices, and social clubs. Butte architect C. S. Germain designed the building, and contractor Floyd Closser completed construction. Most of the town attended the dedication and grand ball held on February 22, 1897. Originally, the building was red brick with a central, square tower capped by a pyramidal roof above the central door. Pairs of tall brick-arched windows flanked the tower on each story. Inside, the first-floor auditorium had a stage on the south wall and a balcony across the north wall. An ornate golden oak staircase led upstairs to various lodge rooms, six law offices, and a kitchen and dining hall. The city sold the building to the upstairs tenant, the Elks Lodge No. 390, in 1948. The Elks remodeled the façade in the 1950s. In 2019 it was still home to the Elks Club and often used for civic and social gatherings.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Public","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/655c36e6-eba6-4a96-999f-dc578b052864/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read about the Virginia City Historic District</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/8960a28e-0c37-4eb0-baa7-fc3d66d59220\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of the Virginia City Historic District</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/32769bc39ef8ce3b7303db1f15353519.jpg":{"id":2550,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"City Hall, Virginia City","description":"View of building facade | PAc 956-198, Montana Legacy Photograph Collection, Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. | 1944 | Unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/32769bc39ef8ce3b7303db1f15353519.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/ddfd97069fef97177097613fd4250212.jpg":{"id":2258,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"City Hall/Elks Club, Virginia City","description":"View looking southeast at City Hall/Elks Club facade | Montana Heritage Commission | Oct 2019 | Kate Steeley, Montana Heritage Commission","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/ddfd97069fef97177097613fd4250212.jpg"}}}