Historic Photographs

Home

Search

Subject Browse
Browse by Subject >>

State/City Browse
Alaska
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Iowa
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Maryland
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
West Virginia
Wyoming


Home

 >

Montana

 >

Helena

 >

U. S. Assay Office, 206 Broadway Street, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, MT



See 16 maps of this location


B&W Photos

HB743590
HB743591
HB743592
HB743593

HB743594
HB743595


Data Pages


Photo Caption Pages


Item Title


Location
206 Broadway Street, Helena, MT

Find maps of Helena, MT


Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.

Notes
Survey number HABS MT-26
Building/structure dates: 1875 initial construction
Significance: The large volume of gold and silver mined in the Montana Territory prompted the Treasury Department to build a United States Assay Office close to the source. Funds were appropriated by Act of Congress on May 12, 1874. The handsome red brick two-story structure was designed by A.B. Mullett, Supervising Architect for the Treasury Department, who also designed the old San Francisco Mint Building and the State, War and Navy Building in Washington, D.C. It was completed under the direction of Mullett's successor, William Appleton Potter. Russell B. Harrison, great-grandson of William Henry Harrison (the 9th president of the United States) and son of Benjamin Harrison (who would serve as 23rd president of the United States, 1889-1892), was appointed Superintendent of the Assay Office in November, 1878. He served in this position until he resigned in November, 1885. A government report of 1919 indicated that the business transacted in the Helena Assay Office, one of five in the country, was exceeded only by the receipts of the Seattle office. Activity declined after that, however, and the Helena Assay Office closed July 1, 1934.

Subjects
Apartment Houses
Brick Buildings
Treasuries


Related Names
Mullett, A. B.
Potter, William Appleton
Harrison, Russell B.
Sanders, Wilbur Fisk
Steele, Daniel
DeHaas, John N., Historian
Silverman, Eleni, Historian
Huntsman, Al, Photographer


Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Contents
Photograph caption(s): 
1. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF MAIN (SOUTH) AND EAST ELEVATIONS
2. VIEW FROM THE NORTHEAST LOOKING TOWARD THE REAR OF THE ASSAY OFFICE AND SMALL ADDITION
3. Photocopy of photograph (Original in collection of the Historical Society of Montana) PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF MAIN AND WEST ELEVATIONS
4. Photocopy of photograph (Original in collection of the Historical Society of Montana) VIEW OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE ASSAY OFFICE, UNDER CONSTRUCTION
5. Photocopy of photograph (Original in collection of the Historical Society of Montana) VIEW TAKEN DURING CONSTRUCTION, SHOWING FIRST FLOOR NEARLY COMPLETED
6. Photocopy of photograph (Original in collection of the Historical Society of Montana) INTEIOR VIEW OF ASSAYING EQUIPMENT


Back to Helena, Montana