Address:
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Photolog:
19-2
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Headquarters Hotel/Depot
Imagine yourself at this spot in April 1882, when Heman Clark, general
contractor for the Northern Pacific Railroad, arrived here in advance
of the approaching rail line being built between Minneapolis and Seattle.
In his hands are the details for a town of 20,000 but what he sees around
him is the same as it has been for hundreds of years, without a building
in sight. Within a month, there are three buildings on the spot destined
to become Billings. One of these is the headquarters built to lodge railroad
survey crews. In another month, by June 1, there are over 500 people living
here in hastily constructed tent shelters and log buildings, and more
people are coming every day. These people are coming afoot, by horseback
and by wagon because the rail line itself will not be completed to Billings
until August 1882. In October 1882, the Headquarters building is enlarged
and moved trackside to serve as a temporary depot. The Headquarters Hotel
remained at this site until 1890 when it burned and provided an opportunity
to extend 28th Street, renamed Broadway, across the tracks.
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