602 South Grand Avenue

The 1893 economic depression had ended when J. H. Beverly constructed this vernacular residence in 1899. Bozeman’s steady turn-of-the-century growth made his a sound investment. Frank Alderson, treasurer of the Avant Courier and the youngest son of Bozeman founder Reverend William Alderson, purchased the two-and-one-half-story house for $2,500, renting it to department store owner Burr Fisher. When Fisher moved out, Alderson moved in, but only temporarily while contractors finished his new house two blocks north. Rachel Hoy, wife of successful Gallatin Valley farmer Charles Hoy, purchased the home in 1903, likely as a winter residence. While Rachel was one of many women who owned property in Montana at the turn of the twentieth century, female property ownership was not a straightforward reflection of women’s economic power. Under certain circumstances, married women’s property was protected from their husbands’ creditors, and families used this fact to protect their assets. Members of the Hoy family resided here into the 1920s. The wraparound front porch and rear addition are new.

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