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Park County Poor Farm
Cemetery
1892-1924
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1930 Wilcoxson's
Delivery Truck
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- 1947 -
at the 9th street Texaco station
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Ox Bow Dude Ranch
In 1933, guests enjoyed western hospitality on the Ox Bow Dude Ranch south of Emigrant on Big Creek.
Today it's known as Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, a 5-star world-class accommodation.
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1940s Brochure
1940s brochure advertised Livingston as the "Recreation Center of Wonderful Montana".
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Albemarle Hotel
Probably the most well-known hotel in
Livingston's early days was the ALBEMARLE HOTEL. The
original old hotel, located on the corner of 2nd and Park
Streets, was replaced by this newly constructioned 1886
brick edifice now at the corner of Park and Main Streets.
The National Park Bank erected the end building that same
year. Located across from the railroad depot, the Albemarle
Hotel was a customary stop for visitors to Livingston and
those on their way to Yellowstone Park. The Albemarle Annex,
positioned left of the corner bank, faced Main Street and
was built around 1890.
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Tom Miner Basin
Thomas J. Miner first came to herd stock for
W.W. Alderson of the Gallatin. For $50 a month, he furnished
his horses and board. He stayed on to trap and leave his
name on the map. In the early 1890s, he went mining at
Crevasse. Officials claimed that his dump was in Yellowstone
Park. He moved to Washington to live out his last years.
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1910 Elks
Convention
August 8 1910, the Anaconda Standard
newspaper announced "Livingston welcomes the Elks of the
Treasure State and their Ladies," for the statewide Elks
Convention. The gaily decorated city featured activities
that included parades, street pageants, band concerts,
luncheons, ball games, and automobiles rides originating
from the Park Hotel. Elks members were exhorted to bring
"wives, sweethearts, sisters, mothers" to the grand ball
that climaxed the three-day festivities.
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THE GATEWAY
CITY
Situated at the junction of the NPRR's main
line and the Yellowstone Park Branch Line, Livingston in
1883 became the Gateway City to America's FIRST National
Park. Livingston's close proximity to world-class fly
fishing, breathtaking scenic horseback rides, adventurous
hiking trails, and spectacular wild game hunting bestowed
another nuance to this postcard term as the town also became
known as the Gateway City of Recreation.
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MONTANA
PROHIBITION
In 1916, the question of public morals as
well as the benefits of a dry society was once again paraded
through the streets of Livingston. Montana's WCTU membership
increased from 1,000 temperance and suffrage activists in
1903 to more than 4,000 anti-saloon crusaders by 1916. On
November 7, 1916, Montana overwhelmingly voted in favor of
prohibition. Effective December 31, 1918, Montana "went dry"
two years ahead of national Prohibition.
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CALLENDER
STREET
This was the second Park Hotel built on
Callender Street after the original 1901 hotel was destroyed
by fire in March 1904, along with the Golden Rule and Seaman
Drug stores. Owner A. W. Miles immediately rebuilt. It was
completed by summer, and George McCarn later took over
management and engaged Arthur and Ralph Babbitt to run
day-to-day operations. Leaving in 1913, McCarn took over the
Hunter's Hot Springs hotel enterprise.
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HUNTER'S HOT
SPRINGS
In 1884, A. J. Hunter, founder of Hunter's Hot Springs, was
"desirous of disposing of them either by sale or on long
lease [to someone] with means to develop the property."
Unable to properly develop the area, the new proprietors
passed ownership to J. A. Murray of Butte in 1899. Ten years
in the planning, the grand Hotel Dakota became a reality in
1909
Dakota Hotel Hunter Hot Springs Montana
One of the popular social gathering spots at the Hotel
Dakota both summer and winter was the Moorish Alcove.
Located at the end of the long second-floor porch, this
niche faced south and was well protected from the wind and
elements. The lure of the curative waters and healthful
surroundings attracted visitors from all parts of the
country.
This Moorish-style hotel with its two-story, 400-foot
veranda was indeed a marvel. Served by the NPRR at
Springdale, the resort soon became the social hot spot of
Montana. Guest rooms were equipped with electric lighting,
steam heat, and hot and cold running water, while the
swimming area included a 50-by-100-foot plunge, gymnasium,
and private dressing rooms with attendants. The nearby
solarium provided solace for reading, writing, or
socializing.
The springs at Hunter's consisted of 27
different springs of varying temperatures. The mineral
content of the thermal waters was believed to have medicinal
virtues that could aid in treatment of rheumatism, as well
as skin, kidney, liver, stomach, and nervous diseases. A
bottling plant was built nearby that produced plain and
lemon-flavored carbonated mineral water that was marketed
throughout the region.
Hunter Hot Springs offered a variety of
outdoor entertainment venues that included tennis, golf,
dance pavilion, children's playground, gazebos, and fishing.
Inside, the Hotel Dakota lobby featured beamed ceilings,
wood-paneled walls, piano music, and mission oak furniture
that provided a respite for weary travelers. Fine dining
with local-grown produce and meat whetted appetites, while
liquor flowed freely at the hotel bar. (from a 1910
brochure)
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HEFFERLIN
BUILDING
Main Street, Livingston (circa 1900),
Hefferlin Building (far right), which would become the Mint
Bar.
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HEFFERLIN
MERCANTILE
The Corner of Callender and Main Streets
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Still standing today on the corner of 5th & Callender
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16th ANNUAL
ROUNDUP
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LIVINGSTON DEPOT - 1882
This photo along with a lengthy story
appeared in an Enterprise paper about 1971. ln 1882
Livingston got this depot. lt was between 2nd and 3rd
streets facing south. lt was on the north side of West Front
Street. Then N.P. Superintendent Horn, said Livingston would
get the grandest depot from Minneapolis to Seattle. Work was
completed on May 31, 1902.
AT THE LIVINGSTON DEPOT:
Observation cars, like this one, were originally built as
sleeper cars by the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1884. They
were later converted in 1913 to open-air "rubberneck cars"
and operated between Livingston and Gardiner on the NPRR
Yellowstone Park Branch Line. Passengers were completely
exposed to an unobstructed view of the scenery as well as
the weather.
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THE RAILROAD
"A passenger train (above) is shown in front of the
Livingston depot sometime in the 1940's. The photo on
the bottom was probably taken around the turn of the
century, when a major expansion was undertaken at the
Burlington Northern shops."
This
rare L. A. Huffman image of passengers debarking from the
train in Cinnabar, Montana, represents one of the scarce
photographs of this hastily constructed town that existed
from 1883 until 1903. Resolution of a land dispute in 1902
resumed the railroad's trek to Gardiner and tolled a death
knell for Cinnabar. Occasional snow skiffs that outline
foundations of long-gone buildings are ghostly reminders of
this once busy hamlet.
This back of this Ingersoll card includes a printed ad for
the St. Paul "Ice Palace" built in 1886. The handwritten
caption says "Livingston Group at RR station, early days."
If photo was taken 1886-1888, this could be a rare image of
Livingston's first NPRR station. Research on this photo is
inconclusive.
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