William M. Bishop House

This early gable-front-and-wing residence was constructed in 1878 by postal clerk William F. Bishop for $2,000. Mrs. Margaret Bishop ran a dressmaking business from the home and took in boarders in the late 1880s. Cottage industries and boardinghouses were a common thread in this neighborhood. By 1899, Fred W. Hill and his wife, Clara, had moved into the residence.

Hill came to Montana in the mid-1870s and served an enlistment as a scout under General George Custer. He eventually settled in Helena, where he engaged in the wholesale and retail cigar and tobacco business. In 1910, the Hills had a live-in servant and two boarders, one of whom worked at Hill’s Grand Central Cigar Store on North Main Street.

The Hills owned the home until Fred’s death in 1937. Despite addition of a half story and new siding, early design features remain including turned porch posts and fancy spindlework below the roof.