Elrod Residence

Intricate spindlework and turned columns on the wraparound porch decorate this Queen Anne style house. The northeast corner of the porch roof once supported stacked second- and third-story balconies, topped by a decorative turret. Montana botanist Morton Elrod and his wife Emma lived here from 1897 until their deaths, hers in 1938 and his in 1953.

A scientific dynamo, Professor Elrod operated a weather station at the house until 1935. He almost lost his post at the university when he testified on behalf of Deer Lodge farmers suing the Anaconda Company because its Washoe smelter was damaging their crops and livestock. An outpouring of public support allowed him to retain his position.

In 1899, he founded the Montana Biological Station on Flathead Lake, one of MT NATIONAL REGISTER SIGN TEXT 1990 TO APRIL 2019 the first freshwater laboratories of its kind in the United States. The director of the American Bison Society, he also located the site for the National Bison Range in Moiese and, after Glacier National Park’s establishment in 1910, spent summers working as the park’s first naturalist.

His many publications included Elrod's Guide and Book of Information of Glacier National Park (1924).