Brunswick Hotel

With the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883, a host of railroad hotels were constructed on Railroad Street, just south of the tracks. The street itself is a contributing site to the National Historic Register of Historic Places, as the 200 and 300 blocks are the only streets in downtown Missoula still paved with original, vitreous clay bricks. Half a block from the original railroad depot, one of the remaining hotels, the brick veneer Brunswick building, lodged passengers and railroad workers who often rented rooms for weeks or longer. In 1900, the depot moved eastward a few blocks to the north end of Higgins Avenue, yet the Brunswick continued to operate well after the turn of the twentieth century.

While many of the more hastily built hotels on Railroad Street were destroyed after the railroad boom, the Brunswick housed a number of businesses, including a bar, salon, pawn shop, and a rumored brothel. During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, the area around Railroad Street acquired the reputation of being a bohemian enclave. It was during this time that the Brunswick began renting out studios to aspiring artists and authors who could only afford rent at meager rates. Over the past three decades, the Brunswick has improved and adapted its facilities to host a variety of local artists. Today, the historic hotel draws the Missoula art community to its open houses where the public can view the work of resident artists.