A steeply pitched roof and a Gothic-arched attic window embellish this Folk Gothic style farmhouse, built by Francis L. Worden in 1874. Worden left New York in 1852 for adventure in California, traveled to Panama, clerked for Washington’s Territorial Governor Isaac Stephens, and served as postmaster at Walla Walla. In partnership with C. P. Higgins, Worden came to Montana in 1860 to establish a trading post along the Mullan Road. In 1864 Worden, Higgins, and David Pattee built the Missoula Mills Company and thereby founded Missoula. Worden and his wife, Lucretia, moved into this home, then well outside town, where they raised seven children. Worden planted maple trees from his native Vermont in the yard and along the country road, endowing East Pine Street with a lasting legacy. He was a territorial legislator and county commissioner and helped develop Missoula’s water system. Lucretia organized the Western Montana National Bank in 1889. The charming home, modest like its builder, remained in the Worden family until 1946. Family members re-purchased it in 1994, saving it from demolition. It is Missoula’s oldest standing residence.
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