Gem Saloon - Thompson Falls, MT
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 47° 35.653 W 115° 20.765
11T E 624337 N 5272526
Built in 1914 by John Sanfacon, a prosperous businessman and saloon keeper in Thompson Falls. It is one of a handful of commercial buildings on Main Street which have survived.
Waymark Code: WMNF5V
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 03/03/2015
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Lat34North
Views: 1

Added to the National Register in 1986, the building has undergone substantial change since then. The "one-story, wood framed, metal roof, storage and freight loading area" is gone and the "boarded up area to the left of the windows" has been reopened and the door made useable. No longer a Napa Auto Parts store, the ground floor is today a pizza shop (a Simple Simon's franchise) in the winter and a pizza and ice cream shop in the summer. Tuesdays and Sundays they even offer a buffet.
Gem Saloon
This two-story brick building has a concrete foundation, a full basement, a roof of built-up composition, and a one-story attached brick addition built in 1914. A one-story, wood framed, metal roof, storage and freight loading area was added to the southeast corner in 1981. The original building has a front (south) side of pressed facade. The entryway is recessed and splits two display windows. A boarded-up area to the left of the windows conceal a second story entryway staircase. Separating the two stories is a band of wood coping. Above it stands four double-hung windows. Above it there is a wood cornice, with a blocking course reaching the roof.

A sign with the Napa Motor Parts logo juts out over the sidewalk from a metal rod anchored under one of the windows. The building is laid in American bond. The east side has a first floor door and a boarded-up second floor window. The south side features the wood addition and a boarded-up window on the brick one-story addition. The main building has a doorway splitting double hung windows on the second story. The west wall is common with "FERKS" Restaurant. An interior brick stack is located near the east wall.

John Sanfacon arrived in Thompson Falls between 1905 and 1906. By 1907 he ran one of the saloons on Main Street. Sanfacon prospered in the coming years. He bought and sold land, built bungalows for rental, became a town alderman, and owned a 1½ story brick residence on Preston Avenue. In 1914 he built this two-story structure to house his Gem Saloon on the first floor and to rent offices on the second. H.O. Bond, a lawyer, became out of his early tenants. At that time the building had eight rooms upstairs, a basement with a street entrance, a barber shop, two pool tables, two public baths, and a restaurant. During prohibition, the barber shop survived, along with a cigar and candy store.

In the 1930s it became a grocery for a time, with the owner living upstairs. Later on the upstairs was made into apartments. Missoula Motor Parts bought the building in 1982.
From the Architectural Inventory Form
Street address:
807 Main Street
Thompson Falls, MT USA
59805


County / Borough / Parish: Sanders County

Year listed: 1986

Historic (Areas of) Significance: Commerce

Periods of significance: 1900-1924

Historic function: Commerce/Trade

Current function: Commerce/Trade

Privately owned?: yes

Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2015 To: 12/31/2015

Hours of operation: From: 11:00 AM To: 8:00 PM

Primary Web Site: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 2: Not listed

National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
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