116 Spruce Street
Missoula boasted twenty-six manufacturing enterprises by 1909, including such diverse production as candy, bricks, gas, marble, and meat products. By 1910, the Northern Pacific Railroad shops employed over three hundred workers and the town’s role as a major urban center was secure. Although the first streets were not paved until 1912, the well built business district gave evidence of the town’s substance and permanency.
Multi-family housing like this fine two-story apartment building was once common in Missoula’s commercial neighborhoods. Constructed circa 1902, by 1912 it shared the half-block to the west with another dwelling. A stone-cutting business occupied the lot to the immediate east. Other businesses lining this side of the block to Higgins Avenue included two print shops, a tailor, an automobile tire repair, a restaurant, a confectionery with a billiard room in the back, and a corner grocery store. At this time the Linn family occupied at least half of the building. Landlord/owner Mike Linn was the longtime proprietor of the Waldorf Bar on West Front Street.
After his death in 1927, Mike’s widow, Tillie, assumed ownership. Although parking lots now surround it, time has been kind to this exceptionally well preserved remnant of Missoula’s past. Rusticated sandstone trim complements the decorative brick veneer. A polygonal bay, transomed doorways, and the original two-story front and back porches with turned supports and balusters beautifully illustrate the Queen Anne style as it was expressed after the turn of the twentieth century.
From the NRHP Plaque