Waggener & Campbell Funeral Home - Kalispell, Montana - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Waggener & Campbell Funeral Home

In 1905 James E. Waggener purchased the business of retiring undertaker Nelson Willoughby.  At his time nationally, the mortuary business was in transition.  Funerals in the previous century had traditionally been held in the home, and the undertaker provided such necessary accoutrements as casket, chairs, drapery, door badges, stationery and flowers.  After 1900 the home became less suitable for funerals, and the "funeral director" began to offer services in addition to goods.  These included embalming, funeral arrangements and transportation.  Undertakers needed more space for laboratory facilities, casket sales, and reception services.  In 1913, Waggener built this substantial brick building to replace Willoughby's original two-room quarters at 134 West 2nd Street.  The new building constructed by local builder Caesar Haverlandt, offered a chapel with seating for sixty-five,  a modern embalming room, up-to-date casket show rooms, and the area's only receiving vault.  Mahogany woodwork and sliding doors graced the family home upstairs; skylights, still in place today, brightened the kitchen and bathroom.  Eventually the Waggener's three sons helped in the business and in 1916, daughter Geneva married Harry H. Campbell who became a partner in 1919.  the profession had it hazards, however.  That year one of the Waggener sons, Elton, died from an illness he contracted while performing mortuary duties.  Waggener and Campbell again moved to more modern facilities in 1929, and this building was converted for other commercial use.  Architecturally typical of the 1910s, it is historically significant as an early Kalispell funeral home and pioneer family business ~ text of marker

Street address: 228 2nd St. W Kalispell, Montana County / Borough / Parish: Flathead County Year listed: 1994 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Domestic, Funerary Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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