Montana State Building
Architect: Galbraith & Fuller, Livingston, Montana
Area: 7,092
Cost: $19,200
Picturesque World’s Fair, An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views—Published with the Endorsement and Approval of George R. Davis, 1894
THE MONTANA BUILDING.—The building of Montana was noted for the originality of many of its features, and showed both by its exterior and interior make-up that an earnest intelligence had been at work in the young state’s behalf. A laud of mines, Montana did not seek to belie the real quality of the country, and displayed boldly upon the structure’s front the curt legend, “Oro y Plata,” or “Gold and Silver.” The elk, magnificent animal, is Montana’s pride among the fauna, and three great specimens, finely mounted, were set up in the banquet hall, while a more permanent representation of the same animal was conspicuous above the arched main entrance. On either side of this entrance were panels covered with sheets of pure gold. All the rooms in the building opened out upon a rotunda covered by a dome of glass twenty-two feet in diameter and thirty-eight feet in height. There were no exhibits in the building, at least nothing intended as exhibits, its object being simply to provide offices for the state’s commissioners and a headquarters and home for all Montana people and their friends, a purpose it fulfilled admirably. Of course it was in the Mines Building that the state showed is great mineral wealth. Here was the famous statue of the actress, Ada Rehan, seven feet in height, containing 80,000 ounces of silver, valued at $65,000, and resting on a plinth of solid gold, valued at $250,000. On the general style of architecture of the Montana Building it may be added that it was of the Romanesque order, with Roman pilasters, caps and bases as interior decorations. Its cost was $16,000.
Montana State Building
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the Utah Building is that of Montana, which was designed by Galbraith & Fuller, of Livingstone, Montana. It is one-story in height, of Roman style, the dimensions being 62 by 113 feet. The single story is sixteen feet tall in front, and twenty feet in the rear, with a gallery. Its frame is constructed of wood and iron, covered with glass and staff. The exterior of the building is ornamented with heavy molded and fluted pilasters with Roman caps and bases. The two side wings in- front with the main entrance are ornamented with heavy pediments, representing clusters of fruit. This main entrance is twenty-eight feet wide and sixteen feet high, with a large Roman arch supported by columns, molded
caps, and bases with balustrades between. On either side of the arch are panels containing the sea
of the State. These are 4 by 5 feet, and of solid sheet gold. Above the arch is a pedestal supporting
a miniature mountain peak upon high, the antlers measuring ten feet from tip to tip. building, one passes through a spacious vestibule walls and ceilings and floor of marble. From this vestibule are entrances to the ladies’ and men’s reception rooms and parlors, and the lobby. The lobby is twenty-two feet square, and is covered with a glass dome thirty-eight feet high. Its walls contain eight panels of Georgia pine, recording historical events of the State. To the right and left are entrances to reception rooms and parlors. The gallery is used for special exhibits of the State. In addition to
what has been named, the building contains the usual rooms for public comfort. The cost was some $15,000.
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