315 Fourth Avenue North

Great Falls’ premier residential street, Fourth Avenue North, gained 24 new homes between 1900 and 1910. Among them was this substantial residence, constructed in 1904 for bookkeeper Edgar Newlon and his wife Anna. The home is a classic American foursquare, a style so named for its boxy shape. Like most foursquare residences, this dignified clapboard home is two-and-one-half stories and features a hipped roof with a centered dormer, a symmetrical façade, and a full-length front porch (now enclosed).

The residence’s efficient use of space—a hallmark of the foursquare style—must have appealed to civil engineer Frank Scotten who, with his wife Lola, purchased the home in the early 1920s. Scotten came to Great Falls in 1889 and was said to know more about the town’s construction than any other resident.

He supervised construction of several branch railroads, the city’s streetcar lines and street lighting system, two smelters, and the four hydroelectric dams that gave meaning to the moniker “the Electric City.” An engaged philanthropist, he also founded a local Community Chest—a forerunner to the United Way.