Rinard House AKA Woman's Club
Built in 1910, the Thompson Falls Woman's Club is significant for
its association with the Woman's Club, which was originally founded
in Thompson Falls in 1914. The building was originally used as a
three room residence for Leonard Rinard, an attorney who arrived in
1906 and established a practice in the former Harriott building
on Main Street. By 1907 Rinard had become secretary of the Sanders
County Abstract and Title Insurance Company, and a year later had
been elected as County Clerk and Recorder. He sold the property in
1914 and, after a series of owners, it was acquired in 1928 by the
Woman's Club.
The first Woman's Club was formed in 1914 and convened at the home
of its president, M.V. Brown. After a reorganization in 1921, twelve
charter members became officially organized as a non-sectarian and
non-political organization, where women in Thompson Falls "can come
and discuss issues and measures with the purpose of benefiting every
man, woman and child in the community." The Woman's Club has always
been involved with civic programs, and in 1922, in conjunction with
the Sanders County and Montana Tuberculosis Society, they organized
the first child welfare clinic in the community. In 1926 they were
instrumental in persuading the town to convert a bandstand into a
community bathhouse for public use. The group sponsors charity sales
and fund raisers and helped to organize the first community library,
and establish a community swimming pool and the Sanders County Historical Library. The Thompson Falls Woman's Club building is the oldest log building in the community. It remains essentially the same as when originally constructed, although the interior has been slightly altered to create a meeting room for the Club.
Originally a three room house, an addition housing a kitchen was added shortly after construction of the house. A covered open porch on the east side of the addition may have been built then. It is now gone. Along with the west side casement window, they appear to be the only alterations on the exterior of the house. Inside, a meeting room formed by knocking down a wall, the kitchen moved to the old bedroom area, and a basement dug.
From the Architectural Inventory