Alex C. Johnson Home

Senator T. C. Power met A. C. Johnson in Chicago and, taking a liking to the young man, offered him a job out west. The nineteen-year-old came to work as chief clerk at Power’s Fort Benton Mercantile in 1879. Power and Johnson became friends and both moved to Helena in 1890. Johnson rose to direct Power’s American National Bank and its successor, the First National Bank of Montana.

Admiringly dubbed the “dean of Montana bankers,” Johnson believed a banker’s responsibility was to those who trusted him with their money. His home, built in 1892, mirrors the image Johnson cultivated for his financial institutions: strong, fortresslike, and invincible. The home’s Romanesque style, with its castle-like tower, round-arched entryway, and rough granite blocks, well reflects Johnson’s intention.

Banker Henry Hale Piggott and his family, in residence by 1927, raised their three daughters here. In 1956, the Episcopal diocese purchased the residence. It became the home of several Episcopal bishops. The “9 Cross” in the wrought ironwork on the porch, the registered livestock brand of the Episcopal diocese, recalls this past owner.