Beginning in 1903 houses from the Bridger Coal Company mine, and later other sites, were moved to Bridger. This came to be a very common practice as coal mines in the area closed, with the miners moving on to new mines and new towns, taking their houses with them. Even farmers, as they moved into towns to make schools more accessible for their children, moved their houses from their farms onto lots in the nearest town. Between the years 1941 and 1959, 39% of the structures placed in Bridger were moved in from elsewhere. By 1955 27% of the buildings in Bridger had been moved in.
Bridger itself began with houses on the move. Before the town was platted people had built houses on the road right of way near the town. When the town was platted they moved their houses onto newly laid out lots in the town.
This particular house came from the Bridger Coal Company mine, arriving in about 1917. In truth it didn't have far to travel, moving approximately a half mile from the mine site just outside town to its present roosting spot. Originally a hipped roof house, since being entered in the National Register it has undergone some remodeling, the most notable of which was the extension of the front "hip" to a gable. Presumably this was done to create more space in the attic as there is now a window in the gable and a "steeple" has arisen from the rear of the roof, presumably to allow more light into the attic. Otherwise, it seems to remain relatively original, the one-over-one double hung windows and the shiplap wood siding remaining in place. Photos from a few years ago tell us that the building was painted white with blue trim then, while it is now a dark brown with red and white trim.
Bridger Coal Company House
This one story, hipped roof, four-square residence with a central brick chimney is the best representative example of company housing existing today in Bridger. The house has a front porch that spans the length of the south facade. The porch has a wooden floor and turned roof support posts. The house is symmetrically organized with a central door flanked by one-overone double hung windows. Two, one-over-one double hung windows are set in both the east and west elevations. A small, shed roofed addition was appended to the rear of the house, likely at the time of its move into town in 1917. The house is set on an uncoursed sandstone foundation.
Warren T. and Jennie Baker were early residents of Bridger... ...The Bakers purchased lots 1 and 2 in 1903 and 1906, and moved two mine properties in... ...This house, which sits on the western half of the lots was moved after 1916, and was probably moved here as a residence for the Baker's son, William H. (Billy), and his wife Margurette (Margaret). Billy assisted his parents in their businesses, worked at Interstate Nurseries in Bridger, and hired out to shear sheep. In 1917 he started a ranch on Cottonwood Creek, and did freighting for some oil companies in Elk Basin. Margaret E. Baker held the property in 1936, and she transferred title to William Henry Baker in 1938. The Baker family controlled the property until 1984.
This Bridger Coal Mine residence meets criterion C as a pristine example of the distinctive hip roof box bungalow mine owner W.A. Clark had constructed for his employees. More than two dozen of the easily distinguishable mine houses have been moved to Bridger, including seven of the eleven houses on this block. Only this one has been preserved in perfect condition. It conveys the importance of the Bridger coal mine in the development of the community. While moved properties generally have lost site integrity and are not considered eligible for listing on the National Register, the moving of buildings to Bridger was historically common place.
From the NRHP Architectural Inventory Form