The "Then" photo here was taken in 1909, six years after the library was built and just three years before the second story was added. We think the building looked much better prior to the addition. Both "then" and "now" photos were taken from across North Pattee Street, looking southwest.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a successful Scottish-American businessman. Among his many philanthropic projects was the founding of over 2,500 public libraries throughout the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and Fiji. Montana alone had seventeen Carnegie libraries.
A. J. Gibson, a famous local architect, built Missoula’s original Carnegie library in 1903. The building is in the architectural style of Classical Revival. In 1912, architect Ole Bakke designed the expansion of the library. The second floor of the building has a Prairie architectural style, a departure from the typical “Classic Carnegie”. The third expansion of the library occurred in mid-2000s. Today, the building has an interesting and controversial juxtaposition of modern and the earlier architectural styles.
Though it currently houses the Missoula Art Museum (a fabulous destination for all people), you can still enjoy the historic building that is part of Missoula’s early history.