State St. to Broadway - "South Main"

The Flood of July 24 1878


COURTESY OF SEAN LOGAN • CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A BIG VIEW IN A NEW WINDOW

An unusually heavy rainstorm, during an already wet summer, sparked a flash flood that raged down the gulch, flooding basements and first-story rooms. Mud and rock slides damaged homes and gardens.

At the time, the only means of directing the flow of Last Chance Creek through town and toward the valley was a wooden flume - which proved wholly inadequate to handle such a rise in water. Still, a box flume was in operation until at least 1884. A large brick-lined underground tunnel was eventually built, which more or less followed the course of the old flume. Your editor knows, because as a boy I went down into the tunnel on West Main street, and walked it all the way north past Neill Avenue.

Click on the Daily Independent story below to read all about the flood, in pdf format...


1878 Flood Story

Course of the Wooden Flume, 1884

 


1890s South Main Street Parade


COURTESY OF THE RAY and PHIL JEZICK COLLECTION & THE HELENA FIRE DEPARTMENT
CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR A BIG VIEW IN A NEW WINDOW

A Helena Fire Department ladder wagon is seen passing in front of the Loeb & Brother tailor shop at 35 South Main Street. Click on the image above to open a big view in a new window.


1877 Loeb & Brother newspaper ad

In the big view, one can see various 1890s South Main businesses. One door to the south (viewer's right) of Loeb & Brother is a barber shop and bath house. Next, at 39 South Main, is the Cosmopolitan Hotel, with numerous parade-watchers gathered on the balcony. Farther south, at 45 South Main, we can see the shingle of cigar manufacturer Swend Carlson (1854-1932). His obituary is found below this amusing 1894 newspaper ad for his business...


 

Last Chance Gulch, 1890s, looking south from Broadway

Advertised on the side of the Novelty Block (now demolished) is Sapolio Soap. Sapolio, started in 1868 in New York City by Enoch Morgan & Sons, was a pioneering company in the use of mass-marketing, hence this sign. The brand is still in existence today -- in Peru. The Sapolio sign was eventually replaced by one for Coca-Cola, which remained on the building until it was demolished in the 1970s.

 

 

1915 South Main Parade


COURTESY OF THE RAY and PHIL JEZICK COLLECTION & THE HELENA FIRE DEPARTMENT
CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR A BIG VIEW IN A NEW WINDOW

 

Looking South from the Atlas Block, 1920s


COURTESY OF TOM MULVANEY • CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGE VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW



Composite Image Created From Three circa 1937 Vigilante Parade Photos


ORIGINAL PHOTOS FROM THE WES AND CAROL SYNNESS COLLECTION
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGE VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW

Composite view of South Main storefronts and Vigilante Parade entrants, circa 1937. Carol Synness emailed three parade photos to me, and I combined them with a photo-stitching program. The resulting image puts the parade riders out-of-synch timewise, but it does give us a good look at the storefronts on South Main, just north of Wall Street. The distincive Colwell Building is seen on the corner of Main and Wall. Wall St. was eliminated in the 1970s by the federal Urban Renewal Program.



1938 Vigilante Parade on South Main


PHOTO BY RUTH LYNCH • THE WES AND CAROL SYNNESS COLLECTION

This photo is courtesy of Carol Lynch Synness, whose family operated the New Cash Market at 58 South Main. Here, she is being held by her uncle, John Lynch.

 

 

Parade on South Main, 1939


THE WES AND CAROL SYNNESS COLLECTION


A detail from the above image, showing gasoline pumps and rooming houses on the east side of South Main. Ids'a Rooms (see sign) was a noted bordello.




Sisters Carol and Kay Lynch watching the parade, 1939


THE WES AND CAROL SYNNESS COLLECTION

. Across the street is the New Cash Market, which the Lynch family operated. The man wearing the apron is Leonard Franks, a partner in the business.

 

Go back to LAST CHANCE GULCH • MAIN ST.