Penwell Building - Helena Historic District - Helena, MT
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 46° 35.371 W 112° 02.384
12T E 420350 N 5160075
Along the north side of 6th Avenue in downtown Helena, the Penwell Building is just west of the iconic Montana club, (re)built a year prior to the Penwell Building.
Waymark Code: WM10A29
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 03/30/2019
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member silverquill
Views: 0

One of several buildings to go up in Helena's 1906-07 mini building boom, the Penwell Building is very typical of the era. Two story in height, it is primarily of brick facing with stone trim on the ground floor. The overhanging Italianate style eave has large ogee brackets and heavy modillions, below which is a line of brick corbelling. Quoins surround each of the second story windows, created with orange colored bricks to contrast with the red bricks of the façade.

Built to house various retail businesses on the ground floor and office space above, the building is little changed, today partly vacant, with a restaurant in part of the ground floor and offices and vacant rooms above.

Name		  Address       Style	     Date  Status
Penwell Building  30-38 W. 6th  Western Comm. 1906  Contributing
Reflecting the economic malaise that set in by the mid-1890s, as the northern end of the Gulch was developed post-1901, commercial architecture was scaled back to one to three stories, and ornamentation was toned down. Buildings reflecting popular style rather than high-style became the norm for general commercial building. Eleven contributing buildings in the district were built during this slower period, between 1894 and 1910.

The Penwell Building (1906), Palmer Building (1906) and the Kohrs Block (1907) additionally illustrate the common, 2-part commercial block plan, with storefronts on the street level and office spaces upstairs. These buildings were constructed predominantly of brick, with restrained ornamentation. In addition to the red brick commonly used on late 19th-century buildings in Helena, other decorative brick including yellow-orange and brown often were employed on buildings after 1900.
From the NRHP Registration Form

Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Helena Historic District

Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]

Address:
30-38 West 6th Avenue
Helena, MT
59601


How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)

Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]

NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed

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