Brunswick Hotel

The Brunswick Hotel, built 1890-1891, is an excellent example of vernacular commercial architecture, with a Queen Anne emphasis. It is one of Missoula’s oldest remaining hotels associated with the beginning of the railroad era here, when hotels arose to serve rail workers and passengers. The architect, whose name is not recorded, used a dentilated cornice, brick arched windows, and brick pilasters to add visual interest to this unique, triangular, clipped corner design.

When the Brunswick Hotel was new, a thriving commercial district ran along Woody Street, centered on the railroad depot just across Railroad Street. Historical city maps show that the Brunswick housed a saloon at 642 Woody, with a dining room at 223 Railroad and its kitchen at the east end of the building.

Starting in 1925, the former dining room housed the “Brunswick Store” and barber William Talbert took over that address in the 1930s. The one-time saloon became Peek’s Drug Store in the late 1920s and 1930s. About 1930, the Brunswick Hotel was converted into an apartment building.