{"id":885,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:09","latitude":45.293476400000002968226908706128597259521484375,"longitude":-111.94629439999999931387719698250293731689453125,"title":"Metropolitan Meat Market","subtitle":"Virginia City National Historic Landmark District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/b83fa2c960b3c2978550cb4cfec47998.jpg","address":"215 West Wallace Street, Virginia City, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"George Gohn was one of the first to arrive at Alder Gulch in 1863, where he and Conrad Kohrs set up a meat market in a log cabin. Alkali dust sifted through the chinks and covered the meat, prompting Gohn to experiment with various other locations until he settled on this site in 1880. When fire destroyed much of the block in 1888, only Gohn rebuilt. The present building, completed that year, long stood solitary on this section of Wallace Street. Decorative pilasters, brackets, and imitation quarried stone highlight the cast-iron storefront manufactured by George Mesker of Evansville, Indiana. Recent interior renovation included restoration of the tin ceiling. In the process, owners discovered a hidden treasure behind a plastered drywall: Gohn’s elaborate oak meat cooler with beveled mirrors intact. This unusual example of 1880s state-of-the-art equipment stands sixteen feet high. Gohn advertised that his cooler was always well stocked with beef, veal, pork, game fowl, and mutton and that his peddling wagons were “run regularly up and down the gulch.”","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/22389964-91bd-4c66-917f-0279004a042e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read about Virginia City National Historic Landmark District</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/e0b9251f-b92e-4e8e-ae20-c0bc3cec7394/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of Virginia City National Historic Landmark District</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/b83fa2c960b3c2978550cb4cfec47998.jpg":{"id":3054,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Metropolitan Meat Market in Virginia City, Montana","description":"View of a storefront with two men standing in front, corrals and homes visible to the left. The Metropolitan Meat Market owned by George Gohn in Virginia City, Montana. | PAc 956-152. Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. | ca. 1900 | Unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/b83fa2c960b3c2978550cb4cfec47998.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/22e10043080cb246f316252dfef6f681.jpg":{"id":2543,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Gohn Metropolitan Meat Market, Virginia City","description":"View of two commercial buildings in Virginia City, Montana. Building on right is the Vanderbeck&#039;s Market which was previously the Gohn Meat Market owned by George Gohn. The original Gohn market burned down and was rebuilt in 1890 by Gohn. Building on left is the Virginia City<br />\r\nTelephone Office built by Vanderbeck. | PAc 956-153, Montana Legacy Photograph Collection, Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. | 1944 | Unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/22e10043080cb246f316252dfef6f681.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/eda06881fcfc5c844aaeef6b5d6bb48c.jpg":{"id":2320,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Metropolitan Meat Market, Virginia City","description":"View looking north at building facade | Courtesy of Montana Heritage Commission | Oct 2019 | Kate Steeley, Montana Heritage Commission","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/eda06881fcfc5c844aaeef6b5d6bb48c.jpg"}}}