M. Henihan Cigars and Saloon, 2710, 2710 1/2 Minnesota Avenue

It appears these are the original frame structures built in 1882-1884 that were later added onto and bricked over. This site was the origination of Billings' first and only lynching. Joseph Clancy, the owner, lived here and operated a saloon until 1891 when he was killed by a vagrant who, when asked to pay his bill, picked up a beer mallet and crushed Clancy's skull. Vigilantes had a body swinging from a telegraph pole within 12 hours.

Historic Name:
M Henihan Cigars & Saloon
Current Name:
Vacant

Builder:
Unknown

Original Use:
saloon; office
Current Use:
vacant

Physical Description:
The shops at 2710 and 2710½ Minnesota are small, brick buildings which share a single city lot. The 1884 Sanborn maps depict a saloon of frame construction on the site of 2710. Decidedly small in size and irregular in arrangement, these brick buildings replaced that earlier building on this lot between 1896-1903.

The building at 2710 Minnesota is a single story high, and rectangular in massing. A western commercial building of nondescript style, the shop faces onto Minnesota Avenue to the north. On the north elevation, it is a simple single-bay storefront with an entrance offset to the side. The storefront is framed with wood, with a transom area above a single pane of glazing. In later years the storefront windows have been partially boarded over, as has the entry. A parapet that rises above the storefront, and includes corbeled brick courses ornaments the building.

The building at 2710½ is a tiny, one-story shop, with a narrow storefront squeezed onto Minnesota Avenue. This north elevation also has an entrance offset to the side, and is framed with wood. The brickwork above the storefront includes a simple narrow inset banding.

On the south side, both buildings have segmental openings and doors, which open to the rear and an alley. A chain link fence encloses the rear of the property.

Historical Associations:
Joseph Clancy purchased Lot 11 from Montana & Minnesota Land and Improvement Co in December 1883. In 1884 city directory, Clancy listed his work and residence with M Henihan, a liquor and cigar company. The Sanborn maps depict a frame, 1-story building which housed a saloon on site that same year. Clancy was killed in an infamous event in Billings history in 1891. Clancy asked a vagrant in the saloon to pay his bill and the vagrant reponted by picking up a beer mallet and crushing Clancy's skull. A suspect was apprehended and locked in the local jail. In the only incident of vigilantism in early Billings, locals forced their way in and hanged the vagrant from a nearby telegraph pole.

After Clancy died, this property passed to Michel Henihan. Henihan advertised a saloon at 27th and Minnesota. Between 1896 and 1903, a more permanent saloon was erected of brick. JF Taylor was the proprietor in 1905. In 1907 it was the Silver Dollar Bar, run by WO Lee. By 1912, 2710 held a second hand store; in the 1920s, Peter C Miller operated first a soft drink shop and, into the early 1930s, a cigar shop.

Next door, 2710½ was also built between 1896 - 1903, and initially housed a barbershop. In 1912, the occupants were manufacturing cigars here, although a decade later, the shop was vacant. From 1925 - the 1930s, the building was again a barbershop.

Historical and Architectural Significance:
The commercial buildings at 2710 and 2710½ Minnesota are not at a first glance very impressive. However, research into their history reveals that they are links to the turn-of-the-century business district business district along Minnesota Avenue. They are important also for their general associations with patterns of history, in the Minnesota business corridor. The small businesses that operated here - saloon, barbershops, cigar businesses - were typical in the turn-of-the-century commercial area south of the railroad tracks. Minnesota Avenue in particular was the center of small cigar manufacturing businesses during the early 1900s.

Architecturally, the buildings reflect the modest little shops that cropped up during early town history. The haphazard spatial division on the lot is a quirky reminder of the years when buildings were thrown up in a hurry, and tiny shops tucked into small lots were to be found around the downtown.

Photograph Courtesy of Paul Whiting