The two storey brick (on the front) and stone (on all other walls) building was built with the fire department housed on the ground floor, town hall, council chamber, police court and clerk's office on the upper floor. In 1913 the single story jail, likely brick, was added to the rear of the building.
In 1955 the fire hall was expanded to the rear, doing away with the jail. In 1966 the town hall was moved out of the building when the town bought a commercial building in the town and converted it into their new town hall. By 1995 the fire department was in need of new and larger quarters. The sale of this building to a private party for $100,000 helped pay the $160,000 paid for the NAPA building, once an auto parts store, at 111 Anderson Street. The fire department remains in this building today.
The purchaser of the building has restored it, rebuilding the bell tower and removing the overhead door used by the fire department. They initially opened a "Country Store" in the building, which is now history. The building now houses a fitness centre, possibly other enterprises, as well.
While Big Timber was getting on its economic feet by 1880 with the beginning of a sheep raising industry, the town itself only mushroomed with the coming of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883. By 1895, when Sweet Grass County was formed from parts of Park, Meager, and Yellowstone Counties, Big Timber, the largest town within the boundaries of the county, was chosen as the county seat. The Sweet Grass County Courthouse was built beginning in 1897, a proposal for the new building being approved on November 6, 1897, at a cost of $9,590. It, too, was damaged, though not destroyed, by the 1908 fire, rebuilt and again damaged by another fire in 1918, the cost to repair being $1,700. While the courthouse was being built a new hospital, 100-barrel roller mill, bank, three hotels and other businesses were springing up around town.
1890 to 1897 was the time of Big Timber's major economic boom and it was at the beginning of this era that the Grand Hotel was built, helping to change Big Timber from a rough and ready frontier town to the commercial centre of the area. By this time Big Timber had become the centre of a major sheep raising area, shipping 4,500,000 pounds of wool annually by 1900. A large wool processing mill was established
in 1902, providing substantial employment in the town.
As happened in essentially all frontier towns built predominantly of wood, Big Timber experienced a major fire, theirs coming in 1908. Fittingly, we suppose, the fire occurred on Friday the 13th in May, taking out most of the commercial district but, due to its brick construction, about the only buildings spared from the fire were the nearby Grand Hotel and the courthouse, which was damaged but repaired. This accounts for the date of construction of 1909 for the town hall. It also accounts for the many other brick and/or stone buildings in the town, lending it a more permanent appearance than that of other, smaller, towns in the county.
BIG TIMBER TOWN HALL
As civic reforms swept the nation at the dawn of the twentieth century, Big Timber’s Citizens’ Progressive Party followed national enthusiasm by electing Progressive officials when the city incorporated in 1902. Then on March 13, 1908, a spark from a passing locomotive set fire to the Northern Pacific stockyards. High winds carried flaming embers, starting fires in several places at once. The Livingston fire department arrived by special train to save the community from annihilation, but one-half of Big Timber’s commercial houses and one-third of its homes went up in flames. In the aftermath of this calamity, the civic-minded city council approved construction of a combination town hall and fire hall. Frank Larson submitted a low bid of $4,805 using his own plans and specifications. Constructed in 1909, Larson’s thoughtfully designed building adapts the Western Commercial style of architecture to a civic application. The flag flying atop the belfry, and the fire bell within, signified the building’s official function. An undivided first floor provided space for the fire trucks and equipment, while a three-room second floor housed the council chamber, the “fire laddies,” and a watchman. The hall served Big Timber until 1966. Under the leadership of Mayor John F. Ashbury (1902-1913), the Citizens’ Progressive Party effected numerous civic improvements. Among them is this town hall, a stellar example of Montana’s Progressive era and a worthy example of the town’s role in the national municipal reform movement.
From the NRHP plaque at the building