OPERATOR - was the sound which most commonly emanated from this building in its first eight years of existence. Austin W. Warr, organizer of the Lewistown Telephone Company in 1899, moved his telephone company into the building upon its completion, where it remained until 1912, when Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph bought out all the local telephone companies, amalgamating them into one. Built immediately before the other Warr Building to its southwest, this was also designed by English born architect, John Kent, ex of the Helena firm of Kent & Bell.
In 1912, when the Lewistown Telephone Company vacated the building, the Fergus County Argus moved in. It published the newspaper in this building until 1941, when the Lewistown Pharmacy took over the ground floor. Lewistown, MT is still listed at this address by at least one website, but the windows are papered over and the storefront is empty. The
Fergus County Argus, continues in operation as the Lewistown News-Argus, publishing from a building three blocks west.
Visually this building is much the same as its sister in layout, a major exception being the lower floor entry, which is set at the southwest corner, next to the entry for the upper floor. Also, the upper floor is all sandstone while its sister has a brick "field" surrounding the windows.
WARR BUILDING
Austin W. Warr employed renowned architect John H. Kent—one of the architects for the Montana Capitol Building—to design the Warr Building. Warr organized the Lewistown Telephone Company in 1899. Upon completion of this new office building in 1904, Warr relocated the Telephone Company here. The Lewistown Telephone Company remained in this structure until 1912, when Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph purchased the local telephone companies. The Fergus County Argus then operated out of this facility for several years. In 1941, the Lewistown Pharmacy opened its doors to the public and continues to serve Lewistown from this location. The second floor served as a rooming house beginning in 1918. A cast-iron column separates the residential entry from the storefront. Lewistown became known as the City of Stone due to its reliance on stone as the primary building material. The façade features alternate cut and dressed stone and flamboyant arches, exemplifying the craftsmanship of stone masonry prevalent in buildings erected in Lewistown during the early twentieth century.
From the NRHP plaque at the building
Warr Building
An uncomplicated two story cut stone commercial facade with subtle architectural detailing. Dressed stone features are introduced as a blocking course below the parapet, at decorative labels over the windows, and as a rounded projecting (Torus) string course at the sill o'f the windows. There are two "pair" of second story windows that serve apartments on the second floor level. They are wood double hung rectangular windows with storms; the labels or heads have an interesting flame-cut or "flamboyant" arch motif (very flat) incised in the head of the dressed stone; dressed stone consoles support the labels at window jambs and between the pair of windows. The first floor storefront below is contemporary materials and include an embossed aluminum transom, large pane glazing in aluminum frames, and a common bond brick wainscot below the display windows. A separate entrance serves the apartments above and is wood; a cast iron column separates the apartment entry from the commercial entry. The back and sides of this building are rubble stone.
English Born John H. Kent, formerly of the Kent & Bell firm of Helena, designed the Warr Building. Kent, one of the designers of the State Capitol in Helena, also designed the Bank of Fergus County in Lewistown.
Austin W. Warr organized the Lewistown Telephone Co. in 1899 with Frank E. Wright and T. Jefferson Wier, and served as manager. In 1887 he was an organizer and cashier of the first bank in Lewistown, the Bank of Fergus County. In 1892, he joined with N. M. Erickson and George J. Wiedeman to form the Montana Hardware Co. A showpiece structure in the 300 block of Main Street, built by the Lewistown Commercial Co., bears his name.
The Warr Building, an integral structure in the block, is a visual sign of the growth and development in Lewistown. It housed the Lewistown Telephone Co. until Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph bought the local phone companies in 1912 and unified the lines through one exchange. At that time, it became the home of the "Fergus County Argus", a newspaper first established in Maiden in 1883.
From the NRHP Nomination Form, Site 141