The single most notable feature of the East Pine Historic District is the grass filled median running the length of the district, from North Pattee to Madison Streets, accompanied by mature maple trees. It is like a little oasis in downtown Missoula, lined with large and significant homes from the turn of the century to the 1940s.
East Pine Street District
The East Pine Street Historic District is the focal point of the
east side residential area that is located to the east of the City of Missoula's central business district and is in conformance with the northwest/southeast and northeast/southwest grid pattern of the Missoula downtown and the adjoining areas on the north side of the Clark Fork River.
The East Pine Historic District is significant because it is associated with and still clearly represents the significant period(s) in the City of Missoula's economic, political, and social development, beginning at the time of settlement in the 1870's to the end of the historic period in the 1940's.
The district is also significant due to its association with individuals such as Francis L. Worden, one of the original founders of Missoula, Joseph Dixon, one of Montana's most significant state and national politicians during the early 20th century, and Arthur
Stone, renowned state journalist and founder of the University of
Montana's School of Journalism. The district gains additional significance because of its several architecturally significant single-family, multi-family and even government buildings, and because of its maple tree-lined boulevard with unique (for Missoula) centered, four block-long medians that tie the district together.
The district is noted for its centered, grass median and maplelined
boulevard that helped establish Missoula as the "Garden
City" and has provided this corridor with the cohesiveness that
has enabled the district to maintain a stable evolution from
1880's to the 1940's, with surprisingly little intrusion.
From the NRHP Registration Form