You never know what you will discover!
While recently restoring the Historic Nevitt building in Downtown Bozeman, we came across a unique situation. The building, originally built as part of Bozeman's thriving downtown in 1888, had a large hook installed in the center of the ceiling directly at the top of a large open stairway to the second level. After crawling in the roof plenum we discovered this heavy duty metal hook bolted to the main structural roof system and we just assumed it was for hoisting heavy loads up the stairway as the building was constructed before the invention of the elevator. However, during the research phase of the project we made an interesting discovery.
Turn of the century buildings used these hooks for fire protection. Should a fire break out in one of the Main Street buildings, the firemen would arrive by horse drawn carriage and run up the stairs with a heavy duty rope and attach it to the hook. The rope would be attached to the horses below and then they would pull away from the building and collapse the roof inward thereby containing the fire to just one building! Simple and affective, this hook is quite an interesting piece of history and glimpse into the past.
Turn of the century buildings used these hooks for fire protection. Should a fire break out in one of the Main Street buildings, the firemen would arrive by horse drawn carriage and run up the stairs with a heavy duty rope and attach it to the hook. The rope would be attached to the horses below and then they would pull away from the building and collapse the roof inward thereby containing the fire to just one building! Simple and affective, this hook is quite an interesting piece of history and glimpse into the past.
Other discoveries are smaller in scale, but just as interesting. While working on the Bozeman Downtown Ace Hardware Store, we found a turn of the century tool box with tools and square nails!
"A black and white view of the Nevitt building and others along the north side of Main Street in Bozeman, circa 1890's. Brick buildings and storefronts line the opposite side of the dirt street that fills in the foreground. Three men stand on the boardwalk in front of the brick buildings, and a horse and wagon stand at the edge of the street, with a dog in front. The Levy & Elias clothing shop is at the left of the image, with A.B. Carow to the right of it, the Nevitt Building standing at the center, G.W. Henke's cigar shp visible at the right of the Nevitt Building, the Montana Armory standing to the right of Henke's and the intersection of Bozeman Avenue and Main Street visible at the far right."
Why is historic restoration important to our area?
A big draw to small western towns is our unique history! We have such a short period of history as compared to a place like Europe, so it is imperative we protect and restore our historic buildings. They are our vernacular archetypes that define our community heritage. When these towns were being settled, geographic locations of importance (i.e. gold mining hot spots) shifted quickly creating ghost towns overnight. Fortunately, the rail road moved through Bozeman, and created a landing point for the miners and the communities that grew around them. In today's world, we would not be able to build structures like these due to updated building and zoning laws.
"Main and Black streets, facing east, Bozeman. A large crowd of people line both sides of Main Street and block Black completely. An automobile and three buggies are visible in the foreground behind the spectators standing on Black, who face east. A line of men and horses, possibly a parade, walks west on Main Street. A copy of this photo is on display in the Commissioner's Office in the Gallatin County Courthouse. The large brick building on the corner is that of Willson & Co. The sign states the company was established in 1866 and incorporated in 1893. The Montana Armory, and a bakery, can be seen on the same side of the street."
What makes historic restoration different than other building projects?
Restoring a historic building has a lot of technical and specialized challenges to work through. The technical aspects are figuring out how to bring a building up to current codes and strengthening the buildings with steel without losing their original character. Each building is different and there is no real formulaic process, so it keeps it very interesting and educating. As well, we bring the buildings up to modern codes. On the Nevitt Building, we restored the windows to appear historically correct while also meeting current energy codes.
To see the transformation of the Owenhouse Ace hardware, click here for a very interesting article with photos by Montana History Magazine. With all the different decades of building in front of us, we have to choose which one to restore to. Making that decision involves considering aesthetic appeal, what has structurally survived the best, and what meets the current owner's needs. Also, historical restoration gives us an opportunity to work with local artists and artisans for very specialized needs. When all but a few historic tiles have survived, we need someone to recreate tiles to match. Or, like on the Nevitt building, we completely restored the original 1888 copper transom window system (each 4’ section of copper mullion weighed an astonishing 50lbs!).
Historic restoration brings community together and allows us to celebrate our shared history and move into the future together, with excitement, positive energy and a sense place in our own time!
Historic restoration brings community together and allows us to celebrate our shared history and move into the future together, with excitement, positive energy and a sense place in our own time!
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