First Presbyterian Church, Bozeman

Seven Bozeman pioneers gathered in 1872 to form Montana Territory’s second Presbyterian congregation. The flock grew and built its first wooden church in 1880; the energetic Ladies Aid Society raised almost half the funds for construction through ice cream and strawberry festivals, baked-bean suppers, and church fairs.

The small Gothic revival building sat diagonally across from the home of Emma Willson, one of the church’s founding members. When she and her husband Lester moved to a new elegant residence on South Willson, they donated their original home to the church. The Panic of 1893, among Montana’s worst economic depressions, delayed plans to use that site to construct a larger sanctuary.

By 1908, however, Bozeman had recovered, crews demolished the Willsons’ small home (which the church had been using as a Sunday school), and construction began. Volunteers hauled foundation stone from a quarry in Bridger Canyon, and local contractor Frank Vreeland supervised construction of the new brick and stone church.

Designed by architects Turnbull and Jones of Elgin, Illinois, and built and furnished for the princely sum of $53,000, the Gothic Revival style church features a crossaxial plan with a square bell tower, an impressive cut-sandstone Gothic-arched entry, and fixed stained glass windows set in heavy, wooden tracery.

Designed for use, the practical interior featured a 700-seat auditorium, well-equipped classrooms, and a modern kitchen and dining room. With clear references to both European tradition and to universities and other venerable institutions in the United States, the design communicated permanence, stability, and respectability while reflecting a national Presbyterian aesthetic.