Now located near the heart of downtown Missoula, the East Pine Historic District was once an isolated and untamed area on the outskirts of town.

In an effort to escape the hustle and bustle of downtown Missoula, Francis Worden built the first house in the previously undeveloped area. Worden chose the location for its proximity to downtown and his business ventures, yet at six blocks from the Missoula mills, it was a spot remote enough that he could raise his family of seven children in the relative peace and serenity of the countryside. Worden imported maple trees from his native Vermont to create a pleasant residential landscape reminiscent of his childhood home. Worden’s house, built in 1874, remains Missoula’s oldest standing residence.

In 1883, with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway north of Worden’s home, the town of Missoula began to expand and encompass his previously secluded property.

Toward the west end of the district, closer to Missoula’s commercial center, smaller residences began to enlarge the downtown area, encroaching ever closer to Worden’s spacious property. The area directly surrounding Worden’s residence remained relatively exclusive. Prominent townsfolk with deeper pockets built larger homes on the undeveloped sites that were still considered outside the main arteries of downtown. In 1891, the distinguished lawyer and politician, Joseph Dixon, hired architect A. J. Gibson to design a house on the same block as Worden. As Dixon continued to enlarge and modify his residence over the following twenty years, in 1915 he petitioned the city for a formal boulevard through the residential area, creating a 55-foot-wide open expanse of two avenues bisected by a 25-foot-wide grass median.

The area continued to expand over the next 60 years, with development on the eastern end of the district catering to lower and middle-class laborers primarily working for the railroad. Little has changed structurally since the early years of this urban expansion; only five structures have been built since 1955.

Today, the East Pine Historic District comprises nine full and partial blocks, but remains largely residential due to the early efforts of Missoula’s founding pioneers to beautify and separate the area from the bustling center of downtown.

Credits and Sources:

National Register of Historic Places, “East Pine Historic District,” Missoula, Missoula County, Montana.

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