Montana
Packing & Provision/Columbia Paint Co.
1517 Dodge St. ~ Now Home to the Lewis
& Clark Brewing Co.
Unless otherwise noted, photos are from the collections of
W. W. Shropshire and L. H. Larison, courtesy of Tom Stockdale
Columbia
Paint Co., 1950s
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ON IMAGE FOR A BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
|
Housed
in two of Helena's oldest industrial buildings, the "Refrigerator
Building" and smokehouse of the Montana Packing and Provision
Co., the Columbia Paint Co. manufactured quaility paint in
Helena from 1947 to 2008.
Columbia
Paint Co. was founded by: President William Wallace Shropshire
(1903-1996); Vice President Lee Hoyt Larison (1912-1981);
Secretary Stephen Warren Stockdale (1903-1960) and Treasurer
William H. Porter Sr. (1907-1975).
|
American
Chemet, Inc. of East Helena, Precursor of Columbia Paint Co.
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ON IMAGE FOR A BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
American
Chemet 1947. The four founders pooled their total savings of
$12,000, uprooted their families, quit "more stable jobs"
and started this plant adjacent to the East Helena American
Smelting and Refining smelter. American Chemet is still in business.
Their first product was zinc oxide, made from the waste generated
from the smelter. The company now produces cuprous oxide, cupric
oxide, zinc oxide, copper powder, dispersion strengthened copper,
copper oxide agricultural fungicides, and related products.
Columbia Paint was started just months after American Chemet
opened. A. T. Hibbard, Union Bank President, helped many times
during the lean years. |
Buildings
Constructed by Montana Packing & Provison Co., About 1888
| The tall,
three-story building was the ice-house. Huge blocks of ice were
hoisted to the top floor; cold air then flowed down to the first
and second floors, creating a "refrigerator" space
for keeping fresh meat. The adjacent stone building was used
both for smoking and packaging meats. The plant was closed by
1892. |
1892
Sanborn Map / 2015 Google Satellite View
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ON IMAGE FOR A BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
Montana
Packing & Provision Co. Smokehouse Before 1947 Reconstruction
Tom
Stockdale writes about repairing and upgrading the original
buildings in 1947:
"There was no water or sewer. The stone building next door
[former smokehouse] had no roof, a dirt floor and was in shambles.
A night crew called the "Bourbon Constuction" repaired
this building. One evening while burying their whiskey bottles
they discovered a sewer line which before the City of Helena
had no record of.
The first office and sales place was at 202 Rodney. Some might
remember Jester's Lounge; it was right next door at 200 Rodney.
Norm Rogers who then owned the Broadwater [hotel and natatorium]
grounds told them about a possible building he owned at the
Golden Sunlight Mine near Whitehall. Norm delivered this building
for $1400 which he got $700 in cash and $700 in paint credit.
That became the office space that shows in the mid 1950s picture
(above). A water and sewer line was installed in 1951 which
came from Argyle Street, close to Montana Ave." |
1957
Independent Record Columbia Paint Article
On the 10th Anniversary of the Business
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on Image to Open PDF File
First
Columbia Paint Retail Store, 202 North Rodney St.
