501 Daly

Missoulians lobbied hard for their city to become home to the University of Montana, and none worked harder than A. B. Hammond, whose business interests included the South Missoula Land Company. Along with his rival C. P. Higgins (who also invested heavily in south side real estate), Hammond donated a large tract of land to the university, certain its construction would increase property values.

It worked. Lots near the campus were considered a prime investment and speculation was rampant. This lot sold three times in 1917. Finally, in 1922, Missoulian business manager C. Arthur Colby and his wife Madge purchased the property, building this one-story bungalow where they lived into the 1940s.

The comfortable residence displays many Craftsman style features: decorative brackets, an open front porch (since enclosed), wide overhanging eaves, and a low-pitched roof punctuated by dormers. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, founded by Marcus Daly for whom this street is named, owned the Missoulian during Arthur’s tenure there.

Exercising control over the news statewide was a key part of the copper monopoly’s strategy to control Montana politics.