{"id":3218,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-07-30 16:35:17","latitude":48.550501900000000432555680163204669952392578125,"longitude":-109.678044900000003281093086116015911102294921875,"title":"Hill County Courthouse","subtitle":"Havre Residential Historic District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/ebeb9debd67554feb74446ff1fc25c8d.jpg","address":"315 4th St., Havre, MT","all_locations":[],"zoom":18,"creator":["Historic Montana"],"description":"A major fire that destroyed ninety percent of Havre’s business district in 1904 also sparked the town’s transformation from a frontier community to a Progressive-era town. Rebuilding Havre coincided with a nationwide reform movement that promoted civic beauty as a vehicle for social and economic equality. The City Beautiful effort adopted the new French Beaux Arts style of architecture, which prescribed monumental public buildings with modernized Classical details. Havre’s embrace of the movement began in earnest in 1907 and culminated in 1912 when Hill County was created with Havre as its county seat. Citizens voted to fund a bond issue to build a courthouse in 1914, and the new $150,000 building—designed by prominent local architect Frank Buossot—was completed in 1916. Significant structural elements include the building’s steel-skeleton frame and glossy, white-glazed, terra-cotta tile cladding. Refined Classical ornaments, such as the four massive Corinthian columns, ornate entablature above the grand central entrance, third-floor medallions, and acroterium decorations at the roofline, recall ancient civic buildings. The Hill County Courthouse remains one of Montana’s most exuberant examples of Beaux Arts-style architecture.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"public","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["Read about the Havre Residential Historic District","See photos of the Havre Residential Historic District"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/ebeb9debd67554feb74446ff1fc25c8d.jpg":{"id":4853,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse, Havre, MT","description":"View looking northeast at main entrance staircase on 4th Ave. | Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission | ca. 1915 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/ebeb9debd67554feb74446ff1fc25c8d.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/2c17de3d5ff0e0791117ee239d9a0051.jpg":{"id":4852,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse","description":"View looking northwest from corner of 4th Ave. and 4th St. | Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission | ca. 1915 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/2c17de3d5ff0e0791117ee239d9a0051.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/522cfef1cf7c108a1bf6439e38d5cffb.jpg":{"id":4854,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse, Havre, MT","description":"View looking north at main entrance staircase on 4th Ave. | Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission | ca. 1915 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/522cfef1cf7c108a1bf6439e38d5cffb.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/0813fc500225a128476b9b3fb5bd6c65.jpg":{"id":4855,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse, Havre, MT","description":"View looking north at main entrance staircase. Note windows replaced with solid panels | Montana Historical Society, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT | ca. 1980 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/0813fc500225a128476b9b3fb5bd6c65.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/cb1c7b586ab6f98b24e22eccb7c04aab.jpg":{"id":4856,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse, Havre, MT","description":"View looking north at original main entrance staircase. Note: window replacement | Montana Historical Society, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT | 7/18/2018 | Kate Hampton, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/cb1c7b586ab6f98b24e22eccb7c04aab.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/35fa04c1e8e559587e5f1c0191e9b83d.jpg":{"id":4857,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse, Havre, MT","description":"Detail view of Corinthian capitals, applied swag ornamentation, terracotta tile, and entablature with dentil moulding, egg and dart moulding, and brackets. Foliated medallion decorations above entablature. | Montana Historical Society, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT | 7/18/2018 | Kate Hampton, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/35fa04c1e8e559587e5f1c0191e9b83d.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/81bcb16f6004ecd7f911dac3144f6717.jpg":{"id":4858,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hill County Courthouse, Havre, MT","description":"Detail view of terracotta cornice and foliated medallion decoration. | Montana Historical Society, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT | 7/18/18 | Kate Hampton, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, MT","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/81bcb16f6004ecd7f911dac3144f6717.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/original/ecc92688944f0f0e5d1381f35b907a11.pdf":{"id":6635,"mime-type":"application/pdf","title":"Havre Residential Historic District","description":"Nomination Documentation. This document is an accessible remediation of the original 1989 scanned nomination form. | Original NPS Havre Residential Historic District nomination | 2026 remediation | Montana Historical Society","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/ecc92688944f0f0e5d1381f35b907a11.jpg"}}}