Former American Lutheran Church of Lavina - Lavina, MT - Lutheran Churches on Waymarking.com

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Former American Lutheran Church of Lavina - Lavina, MT

in Lutheran Churches

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 658801 N 5128939

A genuine rarity, this is a hotel that was also a church.

The Adams Hotel, built in 1908 within a year of the Milwaukee Road's arrival, is a huge two-story Colonial Revival style building seemingly standing in the middle of nowhere. While the hotel survived, on and off, for many years, it was simply too ambitious an establishment for the size of town that Lavina grew to be. Early hopes were that the town would grow to be a major supply centre in the area, given that it was on the Milwaukee Road. Though early success inspired the owner to expand in 1911, by the 1920s drought descended on Montana, quickly reversing any growth experienced. As a result Lavina became a minor supply centre, never again growing sufficiently to require a hotel as grand and as large as The Adams.

The American Lutheran Church of Lavina came into being in 1930. They had previously been members of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church at Belmont, that is until the building burned down in 1929. Shortly after, the Lavina Lutherans formed their own congregation and bought and moved into the Adams Hotel. Their cost was $750 plus back taxes. They remained there until 1973, at which time the high cost of maintaining and operating the large two story building forced the congregation to sell the building and move into the Lavina Methodist Church to share it with the Methodists

The Lutherans originally were members of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church at Belmont until the building burned down in 1929. Then members from Lavina formed their own congregation and bought and moved into the Adams Hotel.

There they stayed until 1973, when it became harder and harder to keep up with expenses. So the Lutherans put it to a vote whether to join with the Methodists. A majority of members voted in favor, with four against it, a written history of the church said.

The Lutheran congregation sold the hotel to another buyer, after the insurance on the building became too costly. The decision was made to use the Methodists’ building, the Methodist hymnal and the Lutheran pastor, and each congregation had their own officers and responsibilities.
From the Billings Gazette

The hotel was sold for back taxes, purchased by the American Lutheran Church for $750. Churchgoers converted the bar side to serve as a chapel. In 1960, the German Lutheran Church leased the building and the small congregation continued to worship in the bar-turned-chapel through the 1970s. Then the building became private property.
From the NRHP Registration Form

After the Lutherans vacated the premises the hotel reopened for a short time, then once again succumbed to lack of customers. Today it is undergoing a restoration that has, to our knowledge, been ongoing for quite a few years.

THE ADAMS HOTEL
Rancher Ludwig C. Lehfeldt sold 33,000 acres of ranch land to the Milwaukee Road in 1907 prompting the relocation of the Lavina townsite. Realizing the need for a hotel, Lehfeldt hired architects Link and Haire—who drew the plans for the 1910 additions to the Montana State Capitol—to design the impressive Colonial Revival style building. Lehfeldt named the hotel, completed for $20,000 in fall 1908, after his friend, Milwaukee Road vice president John Q. Adams. The Adams' main entrance faced Main Street with a secondary north entrance facing the railroad tracks and depot. It was a first-class establishment offering steam heat, gas lighting, a bar generously stocked with the finest liquors and cigars, an elegant dining room serving fine meals, and a ladies’ withdrawing room on the second floor. Each guest room was beautifully appointed with carpeting, fine furnishings, and a matching china washbowl and pitcher set. Pure linen sheets and down comforters promised a good night's rest even in the coldest winter weather. The grand two-story hostelry hosted dances and social events in its spacious dining room and lobby and thus became the center of local hospitality. Lavina flourished with the homestead boom but drought, crop failures, and bank closures took their toll. The Adams declined, few guests stayed in its once-opulent rooms, and by the mid-1920s the hotel closed. From the 1930s through the 1970s, the Lutheran Church used the bar area as its chapel. After changing hands several times, restoration began in 2000.
From the NRHP plaque at the building