{"id":3619,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-07-10 22:29:37","latitude":46.24305750143192739187725237570703029632568359375,"longitude":-114.15846347808837890625,"title":"Romney Residence","subtitle":"Hamilton Southside Residential Historic District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/707562d5db40528abc82826334bf4bd2.jpg","address":"425 South 3rd Street, Hamilton, MT","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Historic Montana"],"description":"Anaconda Company carpenters built this Folk Victorian style home circa 1900. A central Palladian window and decorative bargeboard in the clipped gable end embellish the modest home. In 1903, Miles Romney Sr. and wife Bessie moved here. They published The Western News—an independent, weekly newspaper—and Miles Sr. became a politician working to limit corporate power in state government. He served as mayor of Hamilton from 1902 to 1904 and a Montana state senator from 1906 to 1910. In 1911, he created the People’s Power League, which successfully introduced pivotal ballot initiatives to reform corrupt election practices. Bessie died in 1925, and Miles Sr. died in 1943. Their son Miles Jr. and wife Ruth inherited the home and continued publishing the newspaper. Miles Jr. furthered his father’s political legacy, serving in the Montana legislature and as a delegate to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention. He supported conservation efforts and created a coal tax trust fund, which turned a finite resource (coal) into a renewable one by investing the coal companies’ payments. He died in 1976; Ruth remained in residence until she died in 2000.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"private","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["Read more about the <a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/c6eaa3c4-7bfc-4a2c-aa8f-33f7a9396e5a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Southside Historic District</a>","See more photographs of the <a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/c2415d71-dcb1-4e5a-999d-f966f5b61677/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Southside Historic District</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/707562d5db40528abc82826334bf4bd2.jpg":{"id":6291,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Romney Residence","description":"West-facing front view of facade | October 21, 2024 | Owner photo","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/707562d5db40528abc82826334bf4bd2.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/original/9e219b28a74f816f01c94c068e0d3f31.pdf":{"id":6292,"mime-type":"application/pdf","title":"Miles Romney Jr. obituary","description":"Newspaper clipping | <a href=\"https://www.newspapers.com/image/350078120/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.newspapers.com</a> | February 20, 1976 | The Missoulian","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/9e219b28a74f816f01c94c068e0d3f31.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/original/153df88bcc6ba78624c937a3383c2fc0.pdf":{"id":6372,"mime-type":"application/pdf","title":"The Peoples Power League : a progressive organization in Montana 1911-1915.","description":"A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History, Montana State University. | Montana State University Library | 1976 | Edrie Lee Vinson","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/153df88bcc6ba78624c937a3383c2fc0.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/original/cb9ee98fbea6d26b32bb3ad3fb28ca26.pdf":{"id":6373,"mime-type":"application/pdf","title":"Miles Romney Jr., Chronicler of the Neglected Truth.","description":"Master&#039;s thesis about the life and accomplishments of Miles Romney, Jr. | University of Montana Mike and Maureen Mansfield Library | 1990 | Christine L. Johnson","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/cb9ee98fbea6d26b32bb3ad3fb28ca26.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/original/60cf2a3e9119d93d845993133527b77f.pdf":{"id":6558,"mime-type":"application/pdf","title":"Hamilton Southside Residential Historic District","description":"Nomination Documentation. This document is an accessible remediation of the original 1988 scanned nomination form. | <a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/c6eaa3c4-7bfc-4a2c-aa8f-33f7a9396e5a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NPS Hamilton South Side Residential Historic District Nomination</a> | 2026 | Montana Historical Society","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/60cf2a3e9119d93d845993133527b77f.jpg"}}}