The first building on this site was the Day House, built at Reeds fort in 1883. In the summer of 1886 it was moved down to this location on Main Street and was sold to Barnes & Woodman in 1896. Not long after, the property was sold to John Vrooman, editor of the Mineral County Argus newspaper, later to become the Fergus County Argus. The house was demolished and replaced by a rough stone building to serve as home of the Fergus County Argus.
In 1912, as Vrooman retired and the newspaper was sold, the Argus Building was purchased by the State Bank of Lewistown and in 1913, according to a
Fergus County Democrat article of June 24, 1913, the bank was issued a permit by the town to remodel the building. A later article indicated that the "remodelling" was progressing nicely. Unfortunately, this was not actually the case, as the following photo indicates. The building was actually razed and the present building erected by Henry Hall Johnson & Company of Great Falls, which also designed the bank.
Beginning in the early 1920s drought and insect infestations began a reversal of the influx of homesteaders to the area, the exodus precipitating the failure of all the banks in Lewistown and many of the businesses, all of which had relied heavily on the farming community for their business. By 1924 no banks remained in business in Lewistown. In December of 1924, the town being bereft of banking institutions, the second First National Bank of Lewistown was chartered.
The following news article, from the Fergus County Democrat, makes note of the purchase of the Argus Building from John Vrooman, editor of the Fergus County Argus, by the Lewistown State Bank.
J. M. VROOMAN SELLS
THE ARGUS PROPERTY
STATE BANK BUYS CORNER AND T. T. TAYLOR NEWSPAPER FOR EASTERN CLIENT
Fergus County Democrat | September 17, 1912, Page 1
John M. Vrooman, who for nearly thirty years had owned and published the Fergus County Argus, and for many years has conducted the business at the corner of Main street and 5th avenue, has sold both his real estate and building there and his newspaper property. The corner was purchased by the Lewistown State bank and will become the permanent home of that institution. The bank has a lease upon its present quarters until November of next year, and the Argus will remain in the Vrooman building until next July, when the Argus building will be remodeled for the bank.
The State bank, which bought the newspaper plant and business, as well as the realty, sold the Argus to T. T. Taylor, who represented an eastern client in the transaction, and it is stated that the new owner of the Argus will arrive here within a couple of weeks to take possession. Mr. Vrooman retired with the last issue of the paper and E. G. Ivins is temporarily in charge. It is announced that no changes in the Argus force are contemplated.
Mr. Vrooman will be kept busy for some time looking after business matters and will spend much of his time on his homestead in the Grass Range section.
From the Fergus County Democrat