At the corner of Pattee and East Pine streets, stands Missoula’s original Carnegie Library, which is now home to the Missoula Art Museum. Carnegie Libraries are found throughout the country and are the product of the philanthropic efforts of nineteenth-century industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The Carnegie Library program provided grant funding to build libraries in communities that agreed to adopt a tax levy for maintenance. The City of Missoula hired local architect A. J. Gibson to design the building in 1902. Construction was completed a year later in the “Carnegie Classic” style. This style, which follows much of the Classical Revival design, ischaracterized by a rectangular floor plan built with brick and stone and features a front entrance supported with tapered columns.

In 1913, architect Ole Bakke, Gibson’s protégé, designed the second-floor expansion of the library. The addition has a Prairie architectural style, popular during this era, and was a departure from the building’s original design. In the early 1970s, the library moved to its present location on East Main Street and shortly thereafter the Missoula Festival of the Arts Committee leased the empty building from the city for $1 per year and remodeled the space to suit its needs. The city also allotted $25,000 for the repairs, and the Missoula Art Museum opened to the public in March 1975.

The third major remodel and expansion of the building occurred in the mid-2000s, which gives the building a contemporary look. The museum celebrated its grand re-opening in 2006. Approximately 40,000 visitors per year enjoy free admission to Missoula’s premier art museum.

http://www.missoulaartmuseum.org/index.php/fuseaction/about.main.htm.

Credits and Sources:

Mathews, Allan James.  “A Guide to Historic Missoula,”Montana Mainstreets, vol. 6. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 2003.

Missoula Art Museum. “About,”http://www.missoulaartmuseum.org/index.php/fuseaction/about.main.htm, accessed May 13, 2015.

National Park Service. “National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Missoula Downtown Historic District.” 2003.

Photographs courtesy of Archives & Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.