Blackmore Apartments - Bozeman, MT

Blackmore Apartments - Bozeman, MT

Posted by:  BK-Hunters

N 45° 40.660 W 111° 02.130

12T E 497235 N 5058235

Quick Description: Built in 1913 as an apartment complex, which it remains today, the Blackmore Apartments is a rather attractive building, representative of this type of building as built in the early twentieth century.

Location: Montana, United States

Date Posted: 8/19/2017 4:08:56 PM

Waymark Code: WMWDHG

Views: 0

Long Description:

Designed by Bozeman's most prolific architect of the twentieth century, Fred Willson, The Blackmore Apartments are just one of the great many of his works to be seen in the town. Willson not only designed the building but financed it as well, along with a group of other prominent city boosters. Not only was it a commodious and upscale building aimed at the professional and the businessman, but The Blackmore was the first apartment building to be constructed in Bozeman.

Built of concrete and faced with red brick, the 3½ storey building stands on a daylight basement. U shaped in plan, the building was given several entrances, each with stairs to the upper floor, some of which extend from the building, some of which are fully inside the building's outer walls. On each of the inner facing walls are full height balconies, the lower two of each set enclosed and upper the upper ones open.

Willson made good use of the brick facing the building including various corbelling techniques throughout. A heavy, triple layered band runs around the building at the cornice, with corbelled designs dropping from it at intervals. A quadruple band with uneven width bands runs around the basement, just above ground level. Windows are plentiful, the majority being three over one double hung, many one over one and a few double paned side-by-side.

Blackmore Apartments

Newspaper headlines in 1913 announced the plans for the first apartment building to be built in Bozeman, Montana had been drafted by the local, noted architect, Fred Willson. The completion of this commodious building heralded a new era in residential construction in the community. Described in 1914 as having all the finest, most up-to-date conveniences, including kitchens equipped with electric stoves and ice boxes, a chute to take the garbage to the basement where it was burned in the heating apparatus which also heated the water for the building, and rear doors for deliveries, the Blackmore Apartments housed many of the growing number of well-to-do professional people who were, at that time, establishing themselves in Bozeman. All units of the Blackmore were designed to be spacious, with a choice among five-room, four-room, or two-room units. The Bozeman Investment Company, which constructed and owned the building for many years, consisted of prominent local citizens who were committed to the long term growth and development of Bozeman as a stable, active, and innovative community. The members of this group were businessmen George Cox, T.B. Story, O.K. Myers, Judge W.R.C. Stewart, and Fred Willson.

In Conjunction with the construction of the Blackmore and the YWCA Building which was completed a few years later, streets of Bozeman were undergoing the dramatic change from dirt roads to paved streets, illustrating a commitment by residents to the permanence and prosperity of the community. This period was one of substantial growth and the Blackmore Apartments stand as a significant testimony to that period.
From the NRHP Nomination Form

BLACKMORE APARTMENTS

In 1903, an architectural journal called apartment buildings "the most dangerous enemy American domesticity has had to encounter." The article's author joined a chorus of critics who claimed that the proximity of bedrooms to living areas—and the easy access to both by neighbors—encouraged promiscuity. Nevertheless, apartments increasingly attracted middle-class residents and, since apartments were a hallmark of big cities like New York and Chicago, many Montanans embraced them as signs of urban sophistication. That was the Bozeman newspaper's reaction to the Blackmore's construction in 1913. An apartment building, crowed the Courier, is "one of the sure signs that your city is a progressive one … passing from the days of a country town." Designed by architect Fred Willson, and financed by Willson and other prominent city boosters, the Blackmore Apartments boasted twenty-nine units. Each featured "a disappearing bed in the living room," an electric stove, an icebox, and "a chute to convey garbage to the basement, where it is burned in a heating apparatus that heats the water for the building." A careful designer, Willson minimized the negative aspects of apartment living. For noise reduction and fire protection, he specified brick walls between each unit. Balconies and a U-shaped design assured residents ample sunlight and fresh air. Architectural flourishes include Prairie style elements along the cornice line and a pattern of recessed brick separating the foundation from the upper stories. In 1920, the Blackmore housed a mix of professionals, including merchants, teachers, stenographers, salesmen, a doctor, a milliner, and a druggist.
From the NRHP plaque at the building

Describe the area and history: The marker describes the building in front of which it stands, a 114 year old apartment building, the first to be built in Bozeman.

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