One of several buildings to go up in Helena's 1906-07 mini building boom, the Penwell Building is very typical of the era. Two story in height, it is primarily of brick facing with stone trim on the ground floor. The overhanging Italianate style eave has large ogee brackets and heavy modillions, below which is a line of brick corbelling. Quoins surround each of the second story windows, created with orange colored bricks to contrast with the red bricks of the façade.
Built to house various retail businesses on the ground floor and office space above, the building is little changed, today partly vacant, with a restaurant in part of the ground floor and offices and vacant rooms above.
Name Address Style Date Status
Penwell Building 30-38 W. 6th Western Comm. 1906 Contributing
Reflecting the economic malaise that set in by the mid-1890s, as the northern end of the Gulch was developed post-1901, commercial architecture was scaled back to one to three stories, and ornamentation was toned down. Buildings reflecting popular style rather than high-style became the norm for general commercial building. Eleven contributing buildings in the district were built during this slower period, between 1894 and 1910.
The Penwell Building (1906), Palmer Building (1906) and the Kohrs Block (1907) additionally illustrate the common, 2-part commercial block plan, with storefronts on the street level and office spaces upstairs. These buildings were constructed predominantly of brick, with restrained ornamentation. In addition to the red brick commonly used on late 19th-century buildings in Helena, other decorative brick including yellow-orange and brown often were employed on buildings after 1900.
From the NRHP Registration Form