Quite possibly the only building in Lewistown designed by the Madison Cooper Co. of Watertown, N.Y., this sandstone faced block was built in 1909 by the Abel brothers, William and John, as the home of their meat and sausage factory and retail outlet. The Madison Cooper Co., incidentally, were also mechanical engineers who designed the refrigeration plant for the building, explaining their being retained as architects as well. The building stands on a long, narrow building lot, 30 X 200 feet. Faced with sandstone on the street side façade, with a wood storefront on the ground floor, the sides and rear of the building are faced with rubblestone, a common practice until about 1910.
The Abels were initially stock raisers who went into the wholesale and retail meat business, at least in part, to maximize the profit to be had from ranching. Further maximizing their profit, they constructed the building to be larger than required for their meat business, allowing them to rent space in the building to other businesses and services.
The following newspaper article, published on the front page of the April 27, 1909 issue of the Fergus County Democrat, made everyone in town aware of the impending construction of a retail meat outlet, that of the Abel Brothers.
Abels to Build New Plant
Fergus County Democrat | April 27, 1909
John and W. J. Abel, of the firm Of Abel Brothers, butchers, whose shop is located on lower Main street, near the U. S. land office, last week purchased of M. L. Woodman a piece of land 30x200 feet and it is likely that Abel Brothers will have the building erected this summer and fall. The building will contain a handsome front on the Main street side where the retail butcher shop will be located.
The rear portion of the building will be fitted up into capacious refrigerating plant. The firm will maintain their abattoir out on the ranch but will have equipment for keeping constantly on hand a large amount of meats and poultry products.
The new plant will require the purchase of several hundred dollars worth of refrigerating machinery, for which negotiations are now in progress. It is the intention of Abel Brothers to be in position to provide a ready cash market for all of the surplus eggs and poultry raised in this part of the county. At present, ranchers sometimes have difficulty in disposing Of these products, especially eggs, when all of the hens of the hundreds of farm yards are on the job. The local merchants always go their length but find it impossible to take the hundreds of dozens which are offered at certain periods of the year.
The refrigerator will permit Abel's to take eggs, chickens and turkeys in any quantity and hold them until there is a market or ship them to Butte and Helena where there is always a ready market for such products.
From the Fergus County Democrat