Burgess Garage facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Burgess Garage
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 Location in Montana
Location in the United States
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| Location | Corner of 3rd and Main, Lambert, Montana |
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| NRHP reference No. | 04001434 |
| Added to NRHP | December 30, 2004 |
The Burgess Garage is a very old building in Lambert, Montana. It is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 2004. This special list includes buildings, sites, and objects that are important to American history. Today, the Burgess Garage is a museum, helping people learn about the past.
Contents
A Look Back at the Burgess Garage
The Burgess Garage was built around 1913. It is the oldest building still standing in Lambert. Back then, the Northwest Improvement Company, which was part of the Northern Pacific Railroad, was planning the new town of Lambert.
Early Days as Winkes Garage
When the first train arrived in Lambert in 1914, the garage was already busy. It was first known as Winkes Garage. This garage was one of the first places in Richland County where people could get motorized vehicles and farm machines. It shows how important new machines were during the "homesteading boom." This was a time when many people moved to the area to start farms.
By 1915, something interesting happened. A local doctor named Dr. George Armour set up his office in the front part of the garage. Mr. Winkes kept running the garage in the back. So, the building was both a doctor's office and a garage!
Armour's Garage and Tough Times
In 1918, Mr. Winkes passed away. His wife sold the garage to Dr. Armour. Dr. Armour hired two mechanics and kept running both his medical practice and the garage from the building. He renamed it Armour’s Garage.
After World War I, times became very hard for many businesses in Lambert. There was a long period of dry weather, and farming became difficult. Many people moved away. Because of these tough times, Dr. Armour had to close his garage and medical practice in 1927.
Alvin Burgess Takes Over
In 1931, a man named Alvin Burgess bought the building from Richland County for just $62.00. He reopened the garage and ran it until he passed away in 1966. This is how the building got its current name, the Burgess Garage.
How the Garage Survived Fires
The Burgess Garage was first built using wood. But early on, it was covered with a special material called stucco. Stucco is a type of plaster that covers walls. This one-inch thick stucco might have saved the garage from several big fires. These fires burned down much of Lambert’s business area in 1923, 1925, and 1931. It's amazing that the garage survived!
Today, the Lambert Historical Society owns the building. It still looks very much like it did in the 1920s, giving us a peek into the past.
