Built in 1921 by contractor Nelson & Peterson, the Powell County Courthouse is a very handsome building, exhibiting a few art deco details mixed in with some Greek Revival detailing, particularly at and around the entrance, which is covered with a Greek Revival portico. The stone portico is supported by a pair of round Doric columns of the same stone. Across the front are fluted Greek Revival pilasters which divide the elevation into a multiplicity of bays. A dentiled cornice runs around the building well below the roof line. It, and other details, are of the same white stone as are the two belt courses which run around the building.
All this was the product of the fertile imaginations of architects
Max Allen Van House & Walter Arnold of the Architectural firm of Arnold & Van House, then of Butte, MT. Though we know very little of Walter Arnold, Van House, born in Moscow, Minnesota on December 8, 1887, spent the majority of his working life in Seattle. From 1914 to about 1925 he and Arnold practised their craft in Butte, designing a number of buildings in Butte and Deer Lodge. Upon receiving his Washington state architectural license in 1925 he moved to Seattle, remaining and practising there until his death in Seattle on April 10, 1966.
This is the second Powell County Courthouse, the first having been built in 1886. That courthouse, however, though in the same town as this courthouse, was the Deer Lodge County Courthouse. This was originally Deer Lodge County, created in 1864, with the town of Deer Lodge the county seat. After the original county was sliced into smaller pieces a few times, in 1901 Powell County was created, again with Deer Lodge as the county seat. Deer Lodge County is now the small county to the southwest, with Anaconda the county seat.
Powell County History
Local government started in the then Territory of Montana in 1864 when Deer Lodge County was created. The City of Deer Lodge was the county seat. The configuration of the county changed several times, and ultimately, on February 2, 1901, the portion called Powell County was created. Again, the City of Deer Lodge was named the county seat.
Education has always been important to the people of Powell County. The FIRST college in Montana, the Collegiate Institute, opened its doors to students in 1880 in Deer Lodge – again, we were FIRST.
The next FIRST for Powell County was the 1870 decision to locate the Montana Territorial Prison in Deer Lodge. The prison facility was to undergo many changes over the years. It was finally closed in 1979 when a new state prison was built 3 miles southwest of Deer Lodge.
Today Powell County boasts 7,200 residents; large and small ranches; and an economy geared to agriculture, other natural resources, government and health care. Many of the ranches are owned by fourth and fifth generation residents. Sun Mountain Lumber Company provides work for both loggers and mill employees. The government sector includes state, county and city employment, and a new hospital is being built in Deer Lodge.
The City of Deer Lodge is the county’s only incorporated community and the seat of Powell County government. Over the years it has been known as Spanish Fork, Cottonwood, LaBarge City and Idaho City. Other unincorporated communities in the county include Ovando, Helmville, Elliston, Avon, Garrison and Gold Creek.
From Powell County