Historic Name:
Montana National Bank
Current Name:
Montana Bank Building

Original Use:
Bank
Current Use:
vacant

Physical Description:
The Montana National Bank is a 3½-story building with influences of French Renaissance and Neo-Classical styles. It is an elegant example of temple front bank design. The building is constructed of tan brick with terra cotta trim and rests on a sandstone block base. It fronts west onto N. Broadway, and housed a bank lobby on the first floor, and offices above.

The primary façade is symmetrically organized in an arrangement reminiscent of a Greek temple. The central entrance is recessed between two massive Ionic columns with compound bases and scrolled capitals, reaching a height of three stories. A cornice on scrolled brackets spans the entrance. Glass doors flanked by sidelights access the bank lobby, and above this fixed central windows with sidelights illuminate the second and third story. Square massing to either side of the entrance form towers housing tall windows, formerly covered with decorative grillwork on each level. A complex cornice with dentils, blocks and a plain frieze bear the inscription MONTANA NATIONAL BANK, and crown the building on the west and south. The roofline is finished with a balustrade and cast stone blocks. A stairway entrance to the upper floors is located at the northwest corner.

The south elevation fronts onto 2nd Ave North, and is attenuated with banded brickwork, rectangular panels between floors and keystone ornamentation. To the rear, an annex was attached in the 1940s. This portion was built of gold brick to match, with a simpler but complementary design. The north side of the building abuts the adjacent one; the east side of the annex runs along an alley.

The bank held "four monster vaults" in the basement, and was richly furnished. Teller cages formed a wall of marble and wood paneling with geometric brass grillwork; square columns with floral capitals supported box beamed ceilings which rose 21 feet in height, balconied offices overlooked the lobby. Today, although the space is intact, only the square columns survive.

Historical Associations:
During the late 1800s, block 58 was just north of the downtown business area. The property north of 2nd Ave North was the site of scattered residences. During the 1880s, SR Miller built a residence on lots 23-24, and it remained well into the 20th century. Next door, Lou & Virginia Fenske built a home, on site of the later bank addition. The Montana National Bank purchased lots 23-24 and in 1917 built this new bank here replacing those earlier dwellings. During the construction they were located a block down the street in the Montana Building at Broadway and 1st Ave N.

Through the homestead and railroad boom of the early 20th century, banks sprang up throughout the agricultural areas of Montana. The number of banks in the state surged between 1910-1919, when 397 banks in the state were chartered. In 1917 alone, the year of this bank's construction, there were a record 82 bank charters granted. In Billings, which was the hub of activity for a large rural area this bank was one of six operating in town. The bank bust followed about 5-10 years; by 1930, about half of the state's banks had folded. Later reorganized as the Montana Bank of Billings, the bank continued here until recent years.

Photo Courtesy of Paul Whiting