Castle Museum - White Sulphur Springs, MT - Official Local Tourism Attractions on Waymarking.com

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Castle Museum - White Sulphur Springs, MT

in Official Local Tourism Attractions

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 507590 N 5155228

Built by the most energetic and successful man of the area, the Castle of White Sulphur Springs is the largest, most impressive residence ever built in this isolated part of Montana. Today it is an equally impressive museum.

Set on a hilltop overlooking the City of White Sulphur Springs, its location only adds to its imposing stature. Built at a cost of $36,000 in 1890-92 entirely of local granite, the castle was designed by its original owner, Byron Roger Sherman, a cousin of the Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman. Romanesque in style, the two story Victorian mansion was built with two full height towers along the south façade, a round tower with a conical cap at the southeast corner and a square one with a gable end set at a 45 degree angle at the southwest corner. The fact that the building rests on a tall basement makes the towers appear to be three stories tall.

All windows on the lower level have flat lintels while all windows on the upper level have Roman arched lintels. Matching these are three larger arches exposing the verandah at the main entrance on the west side of the building. Two small dormers, one each on the north and south elevations, peek out from between the towers on the south side and from beside a larger dormer on the north side.

Sherman moved to California in 1902, selling the building to the Donahoe family in 1905. Heirs of the Donahoes donated the building to the Meagher County Historical Association to be used as a museum in 1960.

The museum is open daily 10 am to 5 pm, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, with the last tour at 4:30 pm. Admission is Adults - $5; Children 12 to 5 and Seniors over 60 - $3; Children 4 and under free. Prearranged tours of 10 or more - $3. Incidentally, photography within the museum is prohibited.

In the 1990s, the group built a large carriage house behind the castle to house the carriages and sleds that had been stored in several ranchers' barns, as well as the old bank, a schoolroom, a stagecoach from the Canyon Ferry line, two horse-drawn fire engines, and saddles, chaps, and mementos from the days of the open range.

The mansion has twelve rooms all laid with hardwood floors and covered with Belgian and Oriental rugs. In the bathrooms were washbowls and stands of Italian marble, and the light fixtures were of crystal and brass. The Victorian landmark is made of hand-cut granite blocks hauled by oxen from the nearby Castle Mountains. The museum is complete with period furniture, mineral samples, clothing and artifacts from the region's past.

Sherman installed a large water tank in the attic, supplied by pump from a windmill in the northeast corner of the yard. In 1894 he enlarged a pond on his ranch that was fed by an abundant spring, and laid a twenty-inch pipe about 150 yards down the hill to a two-story electric light plant that had two dynamos in the basement. The electricity was carried into town on bare wire strung on pine and spruce poles. The plant could run only about six hours before the pressure of the pond became too low. Consumers learned to plan their activities around the 'on' hours, but they could lay claim to living in one of the first towns in the state to have electricity.
From Central Montana

The Castle of White Sulphur Springs

The Castle of White Sulphur Springs represents a peak in the career of Byron Roger Sherman, one typical of many men who civilized the Western frontier. In addition, it is one of the most imposing dwellings built in this isolated section of Montana. Sherman was born in Moriah, New York in 1841, and was-named for his grandfather, Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Byron was also the cousin of the another famous American, the Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman.

Like so many others of his generation, Sherman headed west to the gold fields of California and Idaho. By 1865, he had arrived in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana and built one of the first grist mills in the territory at Fort Owen. In 1872, Sherman moved to the Smith River Valley and began his thirty-year participation in all of the region's major "industries." In rapid succession he developed a fine ranch, operated a stage line (between Helena and White Sulphur Springs) and a livery stable, bought and developed real estate in this county seat, profited from mining interests in the nearby silver.boom-town of Castle, and built the first local electric light plant. Although Sherman did not concern himself with politics, his wide-spread involvement in the economic development of this region marks him as one of those energetic men dedicated to the Idea of progress who brought civilization to the western frontier.

As did so many others in a society which lacked professional artisans, Sherman designed his own home. "The Stone Castle" represented his economic success and he spared no expense to make it the finest in the region. It was built in 1890 by Mr. Soos, a local contractor, of granite from the Castle Mountains, 12 miles distant. Transported to the site by 16-oxen teams, the stones were cut by a talented mason, Ole Opshall. Interior appointments were unusually elegant for a frontier community and included cherry and oak floors and woodwork, Italian marble bath fixtures and elaborate bronze, brass and crystal light fixtures. The installation of a hot-water system powered by windmill and heated by a coal furnace, and an acetylene plant for gas lights were unusual for Montana in the 1890s.
From the NRHP Nomination Form