Forsyth Residential Historic District
Founded for the railroad, Forsyth’s residential neighborhoods were platted in 1882 but much of the land lay undeveloped until the 1900s. Forsyth’s first-generation homes were simple dwellings rapidly constructed of wood or log to serve the immediate needs of the railroad workers who were Forsyth’s first residents. The historic district northeast of the commercial area was home to many of these. By the 1890s, however, the railroad crews had moved on, the population had become more diverse, and the town was more settled. The landmark vernacular Gothic style Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1890, represents this earliest period of permanent development. A few carpenter-built American foursquare and gable-front-and-wing cottages survive from the 1890s. These dwellings follow the national folk housing trends of the era. Builders and owners added distinctive details such as bay windows, small dormers, and porches, lending each home a distinct personality. As Forsyth residents prospered, fashionable Queen Anne style residences began to lend prestige to the neighborhood. After 1901, domestic building styles became more varied when pattern books made the latest architectural plans widely available. Forsyth enjoyed rapid growth and new prosperity in the first decades of the 1900s. Stylish Colonial Revival homes and Craftsman bungalows reflect the optimism of the homestead era. Today the historic district is a dynamic mix of these later elements interspersed with the earlier carpenter-built cottages. The quiet, inviting avenues personify the enthusiasm of hard-working citizens and early town boosters.
241 North Eleventh Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
By 1897, a single-story home stood on this site. Owners had added a wing and two porches by 1910, but by 1920 that house had been replaced with this one-story bungalow. The full-length front porch tucked beneath the roof, exposed rafter tails, and decorative wooden brackets on both home and garage…
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310 North Eleventh Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
At the turn of the twentieth century, inviting porches fronted many houses in Forsyth. Built before 1910 on a prominent corner lot, this hipped-roof home retains its full-length porch, supported by Doric columns. As with many early-twentieth-century homes, the kitchen, located at the back of the…
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474 North Thirteenth Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
A single-story octagonal cutaway bay with prominent wooden brackets and a multi-sided screen porch mark the street façade of this T-shaped, two-story home. An excellent example of vernacular Queen Anne style architecture, the home displays much historic detail common to the form: irregular angles,…
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258 North Twelfth Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Built between 1895 and 1900, this residence began as a brick cottage with a rear kitchen addition and a small front porch. Kitchens were often built under separate roofs at the turn of the century. This separation kept smoke from the kitchen stove from entering the rest of the house, increased…
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411 North Twelfth Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Early pioneers Thomas and Mary Alexander owned large swaths of land in and around Forsyth, including most of this block, which they subdivided into lots. They sold this tract to Edward Jones in 1903, who likely built this asymmetrical two-story residence soon after. Builders like Jones had begun to…
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542 North Twelfth Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Northern Pacific conductor Frank Runyan and his wife, Nellie, built this one-story bungalow in 1914. County jailor Dick Wright and his wife, Edith, lived here from 1919 to 1923. A. J. and Ina Freeman owned the home in 1940. A. J. was justice of the peace; Ina helped found the Forsyth library and…
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558 North Twelfth Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Exposed rafter tails add a fashionable Craftsman style accent to this one-story residence. The inviting, open front porch also reflects the Craftsman ideal; the style’s southern California originators intended large front porches to connect homeowners to their natural surroundings. In other…
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610 North Twelfth Avenue
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Standing just outside the original town site, this two-story home is believed to be one of the first residences constructed so close to the Yellowstone River. It was a dangerous place to build since despite early dikes, the river was still prone to floods. The concrete block foundation of this…
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Bachelors Club
Forsyth Residential Historic District
A large central dormer and an inset front porch distinguish this Craftsman style residence. Businessman and real estate developer Winnie Dowlin likely had the home constructed circa 1910 along with the two houses immediately to the south for rental and resale. By 1914, the side-gabled,…
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Beeman Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Arrival of the Milwaukee railroad and the masses of homesteaders who followed in its wake meant land-office business for Forsyth. As Rosebud County seat, Forsyth provided plenty of work for lawyers like Henry Beeman, who opened a title abstract company in 1911. The following year, he and his wife,…
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Bland Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
“The three Longley cottages in the eastern part of the city have been completed and are ready for occupancy,” announced the Forsyth Times in November 1901. Two of those cottages were almost certainly this hipped-roof residence and its twin next door, both owned by M. Longley. The homes are typical…
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Choisser Block
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Sunrays filtering through a window apparently ignited straw packing in the basement of the J. E. Choisser Wholesale Liquor Company in July 1917. Bottles of liquor burst in the flames, fueling a fire that ultimately gutted the two-story building. Self-made entrepreneur Joseph Choisser built the…
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F. V. H. Collins Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
In 1901, prosperous rancher Thomas Hammond built “a fine residence in Forsyth … one of the architectural adornments of the city.” He and his wife, Adelaide, and their four children used the home as a town house until 1905. That year they sold the two-story, four-square residence to Fred and Jemima…
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E. A. Cornwell Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
“E. A. Cornwell, the popular Forsyth merchant and banker, will move this week into the first cement block house ever built in Forsyth,” reported the Forsyth Times on October 3, 1907. “It is fitted with steam throughout, electric lighted, and modern in every convenience.” Relatively new technology…
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Edwards Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Distinctive pointed-arched, Gothic style windows and a decorative three-story square tower, tucked in the L of the cross-gable, originally distinguished this unique residence, constructed between 1896 and 1903. In March 1903, John and Julia Edwards purchased the home, where they lived with their…
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Harry and Frances Cornwell Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Decorative half-timbering and an intricate roofline distinguish this elegant one-and-one-half-story home. Mary Philbrick had the residence built as a wedding present for her daughter Mary Frances and son-in-law Harry Cornwell, a hardware merchant. The Philbricks were a wealthy Rosebud County…
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Maurice and Mary Lord Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
When the Milwaukee road arrived in 1907, Forsyth boomed, and carpenter Maurice S. Lord decided to open his own business. “It won’t cost you anything to talk to me,” he advertised, “and if I can’t suit you as to price and quality, then give the job to the other fellow and we will still be friends.”…
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McCuiston Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
The deep eaves and flared rooflines of this two-story home were meant to evoke the Far East, while its octagonal tower, ornamental brackets, decorative beveled glass, and corbelled chimneys reveal the attention to detail that accompanied the home’s construction. Forsyth contractor Louis Wahl built…
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Meredith Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Carpenter Gustav Hoff purchased this lot in 1900, and sometime before 1920 he built this one-story, hipped roof house, likely as an investment. Robert “Shorty” Meredith and his wife Mary bought the residence in 1920 for $2,500. The couple had moved to Forsyth four years earlier; shortly thereafter,…
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Meyerhoff Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Emmett and Anna Meyerhoff arrived in Forsyth in 1902 and quickly became prominent in Forsyth society. The assistant cashier of the newly organized Forsyth State Bank (later First National Bank), Meyerhoff was bank president by 1913. Anna was active in the Forsyth Woman’s Club, whose meetings she…
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Northway Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
A truncated hipped roof reflects this circa 1895 home’s modest beginnings. Carpenters used shorter, less expensive pieces of lumber for hipped roofs than for triangular-shaped gable roofs. Owners added a full-length front porch (since removed) and a rear addition before 1903. That year Ida Northway…
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Lida Parker Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Cattleman Lafayette H. Parker and his wife, Lida, purchased a small home on this lot in 1910. Lafayette died two years later of tuberculosis, but Lida continued to live here, and in 1917, she obtained a mortgage to replace her home with a two-story clapboard residence with a full basement, which…
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E. A. Richardson Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Cast concrete block was an exciting new technology in the 1900s. While critics labeled it “cheap and vulgar,” builders and homeowners embraced it as a “substantial and beautiful substitute for stone.” Durable, affordable, and simple to manufacture, the material—virtually unheard of in 1900—was…
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Richardson Mercantile Implement Division
Forsyth Residential Historic District
“Forsyth No Longer a String Town—Side Streets Are Being Utilized” proclaimed a 1910 Forsyth Times article lauding the development of Ninth Avenue. Side streets lined with businesses marked a railroad town’s coming-of-age, as did construction of brick buildings featuring whatever architectural…
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Roxy Theatre
Forsyth Main Street Historic District
“May You Prosper Well in Your New Theatre with Your Steadfast Faith in Forsyth,” read one of the many ads that filled the August 28, 1930, Forsyth Times. Car and clothing merchants joined building contractors and suppliers in congratulating Anthony Wolke and Frank Faust on the construction of their…
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Sorenson Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Northern Pacific Railroad engineer Thomas Sorenson and his wife Hannah built this one-and-one-half-story residence circa 1910. That year the Norwegian immigrant couple lived here with their five children and two boarders, both of whom also worked for the railroad. The large gambrel roof dormer…
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Taber Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Civil engineer Charles Taber helped survey the original Northern Pacific line through Forsyth in 1881. He must have liked what he saw because he soon returned to Forsyth, becoming the town’s first mayor after it incorporated in 1904. Taber purchased this two-story Queen Anne style home in 1906,…
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Thurston Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Small touches add elegance to this one-and-one-half-story Colonial Revival residence and matching garage. Particularly noteworthy are its overall symmetry, prominent eave returns, shingled gabled ends, and classical pillars supporting the hipped roof of the front porch. The home’s relative lack of…
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Vredenburgh and Sawtelle Sanitarium
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Osteopaths Norman Vredenburgh and Claude Sawtelle built this Craftsman style bungalow in 1915 as a “sanitarium,” a small hospital and nursing home. From its inviting inset front porch to its prominent hipped dormers, the building looked more like a house than a hospital. However, according to its…
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Wilson Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Dr. Arthur C. Wilson moved to Forsyth after graduating medical school in 1891. He worked as a surgeon for the Northern Pacific Railroad, as a medical examiner for insurance companies, and as the county health officer. Forsyth’s first resident physician, he also maintained an active general practice…
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