On the corner of Sixth Avenue and Last Chance Gulch, the Goodkind Block and the Power Block, directly across the street, were two of the very few lucky buildings which were to survive the fire of 1928 which took out much of the block. Earlier fires were what made the way for the construction of many, if not all of the brick and stone buildings of the late nineteenth century which survive.
St. Louis architect F. D. Lee designed this beautifully restored building for Colonel Charles A. Broadwater. Work on the building began on August 20, 1884 and by December 11, 1884 it was made available to The Sisters of Charity for a Catholic fair. It is the oldest standing commercial building north of Broadway. The Goodkind brothers operated a wine, liquor, and cigar business here for many decades, hence its becoming known as the Goodkind Block, not the Broadwater Block.
This is one of the half page ads placed by the Goodkind Brothers in The Helena Independent, this one on Page 12 of the August 27, 1890, Morning issue. By that time they apparently had another partner by the name of Wise.
A Munificent Offering
The Sisters of Charity in charge of St. John's Hospital, Helena, have received at the hands of Mr. S. C. Ashby and C. A. Broadwater, the grant to use their magnificent new store room, on the southeast corner of Sixth avenue and Main street, for the Catholic fair that will be held during the holidays for the benefit of the new hospital. There is no more elegant or costly room in Montana than the one that has been proffered to the Sisters by the liberal and enterprising owners. The basement is admirably adapted for the refreshments and lunch tables of the fair, where there is ample room for a crowd, and warm stoves, gas light and other conveniences for large gatherings. The store room, a hundred feet deep, with elegant windows and gas light, will be most desirable for the purposes of a bazaar and exhibition of gifts, raffles and presents.
From the Helena Weekly Herald
Goodkind Block
Street No.
Original Owner
Original Use
Present Owner
Present Use
Wall Construction
No. of Stories
|
139 No. Main
Broadwater & Ashby
Store and Offices
Goodkind
State Nursery Retail Store
Brick
3
|
|
Name
Date or Period
Style
Architect
Builder
|
Goodkind Building
1884
F. D. Lee, St. Louis, Mo.
Shaffer & Welter
|
|
|
"A beauty and no mistake". (Quotation from Helena Independent, 1884)
The glass front was intended to be that way, but seemed to surprise people at the
time the building was erected.
Typical metal cornice. Stone keystones and skewbacks to match window sills - carved stone. Some ornamental brickwork. According to contemporary news story, the large amount of glass for display on Last Chance Gulch and 6th Street was something different about this building- The deeply recessed entry and the generous amount of glass along 6th Avenue seems to be the first building that was planned to emphasize this importance of window display. This is a trend that has continued until today. Retail stores fill hundreds of feet of window with display items and in addition everything inside the store is also on display. We do not have any existing earlier examples of this.
From the NRHP Registration Form
Name Address Style Date Status
Goodkind Building 139 NLCG* Western Comm. 1884 Primary
*NLCG=North Last Chance Gulch
By the early 1870s, architecture in Downtown Helena was largely defined by Western Commercial Style buildings. As defined in the 1972 nomination, these were characteristically 2-3 stories in height, long and rectangular, with a crowning (often pedimented) iron cornice derived from Italian
Renaissance architecture generally employed on the façades. Although there were over twenty of these buildings remaining prior to 1972, most were razed during Urban Renewal. The Herrmann's Furniture Store, 1872, the Goodkind Building, 1884, and newer facades on the Raleigh & Clarke Building and Clark, Conrad & Curtin Building provide examples of some of the forms this style took in Helena.
[Charles Broadwater] erected the Goodkind Building, which was known during the early years as the Broadwater Block. It remains today as a legacy to Broadwater...
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Goodkind Building
The Goodkind Building, reflects the popularity of Western Commercial architecture in early Helena. Built in 1884, when Helena was just entering a decade-long period of tremendous growth, it is more restrained than many buildings erected during the zenith of Helena's early development.
From the NRHP Registration Form