Restoration crews begin work on Montana’s first capitol … just in time
Darrell Ehrlick
(Daily Montanan) For all that Montana treasures its history – from the rowdy vigilantes to the statue of triumphant Irish hero and one-time territorial governor Thomas Francis Meagher – you might think it would have done more to preserve the epicenter of that period.
But the home of the state’s first permanent territorial capitol in Virginia City nearly became part of history if not for heroic measures to preserve the structure, which was literally crumbling.
When restoration and construction crews began work this summer, one corner of Stonewall Hall, the pool hall turned legislature, was literally reduced to a pile of rubble. A parapet, part of a wall and a portion of the roof had collapsed on the structure, part of an unreinforced three-story brick wall that hasn’t been updated since Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States.
The Montana Heritage Commission, which manages Virginia City and Nevada City – the Twin Cities of Montana Territory – has owned the building for just two years, and immediately after receiving it, went to work on fundraising to restore the crumbling structure.
And, it’s probably not a moment too soon as the building started falling apart. That’s probably to be expected because it has sat largely unused for decades, last serving as a garage back that shuttered in 1967.
But it’s the upper floor of the historic building which hasn’t been used actively in more than a century that holds the most significance, being the site of the territorial legislature for the decade between the capital being shifted from Bannack until it moved to Helena in 1875.
“This is arguably the most important building in our state’s history,” said heritage commission executive director Elijah Allen.
It is, after all, the first permanent structure to house the lawmakers of fledgling territory that would become the Treasure State, and the oldest of the state-used buildings still standing.
“I can’t think of anything more important,” Allen said. “This is a very humble part of our beginning, and we didn’t require art or extravagance. We were just trying to make it.”
Unlike other states, Montana’s territorial government sprang up as the federal government was distracted by the Civil War. Idaho Territory, which lost much of its land mass when Montana was cleft from it, was just too big to govern, especially with steep mountains and hostile Native tribes on the western side of what would become the state. Southern sympathizers and refugees from the Confederate States also posed a threat by sending gold to aid the South instead of using it to contribute to the United States’ war efforts.
But the hurried nature of the territory’s creation meant that all the trappings of American government were slow in coming to places like Bannack or Virginia City and the lawmakers met in a series of places, mostly saloons and public pool halls to conduct business. In fact, the state’s territorial legislature met in several different places, including two other buildings adjacent or connected to Stonewall Hall, too. One of the connecting doorways on Stonewall’s second floor can still be seen — a door that seems to lead to nowhere.
Because of the makeshift nature of how the lawmakers had to meet, the building was understood to be the seat of government, but it wasn’t a space distinctively reserved for that purpose. When the Legislature wasn’t in session, a sprawling city with as many as 10,000 residents at one time demanded it be turned back into a bar, clothing store or even a pool hall that advertised “fine segars.”
That, as much as anything, has contributed to the site likely not being recognized as more historically significant. Or maybe it was because the lawmakers occasionally met in different buildings, depending on what was available, to conduct business. Historians have noted that contemporary accounts of the territorial legislature detail what the pioneer lawmakers decided, but were curiously silent about where those decisions took place.
Last summer, the heritage commission launched the public campaign to raise enough funds to preserve, stabilize and renovate the long, narrow brick building. Gov. Greg Gianforte and Montana First Lady Susan Gianforte were among the large contributors to the project that will likely cost around $2 million when the final costs are calculated.
With $1.5 million in hand currently, a temporary chain-link fence lines the perimeter of Stonewall Hall and crews on scaffolding are working toward stabilizing the wall, putting in a new foundation and working on the roof, which has deteriorated, allowing the rest of the structure to sustain significant water damage.
Allen hopes some of the original windows can still be salvaged. When the project is complete, he estimates around 25% of the original building will remain, and people will use it to help understand the earliest days of American expansion and settlement into the territory.
Most of the building hasn’t completely operated for as long as a century and most of the electrical and plumbing systems are dysfunctional or obsolete. Renovation and restoration plans will require Stonewall to be rebuilt, including adding electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems that will both preserve the historic feel of the building but be suited for the 21st, not the 19th century.
“This building has been sitting for awhile,” Allen said. “But not a penny from the general fund has went into this. We only have what we can generate from the small businesses here. There’s a lot of pride in this building, but I wish we had a better funding mechanism.”