This location was originally established as a poor farm in 1871 with the purchase of 160 acres parcel north of the city of Helena which was operated as a Poor Farm, in which destitute infirm and elderly citizens were housed. The farm grew and raised much of its own food, with residents supplying much of the labor. A hospital, designed by local architect M. Bakker, was constructed on the property in 1895. In 1899 it was expanded, the expansion designed by premiere Montana architect C.S. Haire. The oldest surviving building within the complex is the superintendent's residence, which was built in 1891.
The second oldest appears to be the non contributing Ambulance Garage, built in 1900, while the third oldest is this building, a small detention hospital, constructed in 1901 and also designed by C.S. Haire. A two storey brick and concrete building, it stands more or less behind the main hospital building, to its northeast.
Smaller ancillary buildings such as this one were damaged and the hospital destroyed in the 1935 earthquake, leading to the construction of the present Art Deco hospital building, completed in 1939. The lesser buildings were stuccoed to cover cracks and (according to advertisements of the time) to afford greater strength, should another earthquake strike.
In 1984 the site became vacant and remained derelict until its purchase by
David and Freide Ameson in 1999. The site was restored, the main hospital building and the detention hospital now serving as offices for
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health, a nonprofit healthcare organization.
Lewis and Clark County Hospital
DETENTION HOSPITAL: (contributing building)
Constructed in 1901, the detention hospital is a rectangular brick building with a concrete wall foundation and raised basement. A band of decorative, vertical brickwork surrounds the building at the junction of the concrete basement wall and the brick of the main story. The hipped roof is covered with green asphalt shingles and features wide overhangs and boxed eaves. The south side of the facade (east elevation) contains an original elaborate wood door with twelve lights, a fanlight above, and a five-light sidelight to the north. The door opens to the main level, and is accessed via four concrete steps flanked by concrete knee walls. Raised brick panels are located on either side of the entrance, and feature decorative, diamond-shaped terra cotta tiles framed by bricks in a eight-pointed star pattern near the roofline. A three-light, three-panel wood door opens to the basement level on the north side of the south elevation.
The south elevation contains three bays of ribboned windows. The bays are recessed and each contains four windows with brick sills. Brick "pilasters" between the bays feature decorative brickwork in a cross pattern near the roofline. Although the windows are modern replacements, they are identical in style to the originals, featuring six small lights above one large light. A narrower bay at the east end contains two six-over-one light windows. The windows are fixed-frame. A narrow bay at the west end contains no fenestration. A single wood-frame window opening is located on the east side of the elevation at the basement level.
The rear (west) elevation features a massive, centered, square concrete and brick exterior chimney. The chimney is capped and a narrow, metal ventilation pipe protrudes from the top. To the south of the chimney, at the basement level is a large wood-frame, oneover-one double-hung window. At the main level, there is a small one-over-one, wood-frame double-hung window immediately south of the chimney, and a narrow one-light, fixed, wood-frame window farther to the south side. The north side of the west elevation features an original concrete, hipped-roof enclosure that shelters the concrete stairs to the basement level. The original, one-light, onepanel door is flanked to the south by a one-light, one-panel sidelight.
The north elevation contains three window openings at the basement level. The opening at the east side has been infilled with concrete. The other two windows are evenly-spaced across the west half of the elevation. The easternmost of the two is wood-frame, twelve-over-one light, double-hung style. The westernmost is also wood frame and double-hung, and features twelve lights above two lights. A large metal coal hatch is located off-center to the east. There are four evenly-spaced, nine-over-nine light replacement windows across the main level of the north elevation.
From the NRHP Registration Form