P a g e 6 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r were added to the scene. In the beginning the family came by horse drawn wagons and stopped overnight at Strom’s Wayside Station on Georgetown Lake. In later years they used a Model T truck to haul everyone the 50 miles from Anaconda around the south side of Georgetown Lake and then followed section lines to the Middle Fork Canyon. The whole family pitched in to help and one year when the smelter was on strike, even the in-laws including newlyweds Harry and Jane, spent months working at the Abe Lincoln. In 1919 the John P. Dunn Mining Company was incorporated with John as President, Bessie as Secretary, Robert as treasurer and Harry and Tom Masten (Bessie’s then husband ) on the Board. Lulu’s Husband William Hayes, usually was employed elsewhere. In 1922 just two years before the Forest service platted cottage sites around the lake, John obtained a homestead title for 160 acres that included 177 feet of lakeside frontage; the meadow where the cabins were located and then a narrow corridor that extended beyond the north end of the lake then west to the Middle Fork and north for one mile along the Middle Fork. Just two years later Kate died from Chronic Nephritis. The Hayes family who had provided care for her moved into the West Park Avenue home to care for John. John deeded all of the homestead to Bessie and on December 12, 1925 died of acute Bronchopneumonia at the West Park Avenue home in Anaconda. Daughter Bessie, now known as Betty (twice divorced and three times a bride) somehow influenced her father to give her sole ownership of the seven patented claims, many unpatented claims, all of the mines, the mill and all of the outbuildings. -Courtesy of The Granite County History Blog The purpose of the Granite County History Blog (https://granitecountyhistory.blogspot.com/) is to share and seek information on the history of Granite County, Montana. In a few cases our topics will lap over into adjacent counties as mining districts especially do not respect the later boundaries imposed by politicians! It is a project of members of the Granite County Historical Society, an organization founded in 1978 by the late Barry Engrav of Philipsburg and now comprised of 8 members dedicated to preserving and interpreting historical documents, artifacts, and sites in the greater Philipsburg area. Our goal is to interest current residents, folks with family roots, and those with an academic interest in the area to add their knowledge to this blog as an ongoing project to deepen and in some cases correct the narrative of the people and events that shaped history in this part of Montana. The recent explosion of scanned historical documents onto the internet is making it possible to greatly speed up historical research, refine historical chronology, and deepen historical interpretation. Perhaps we are entering into a "golden age" of research into our past! Anyone with an interest in the Philipsburg area or Montana history is invited to discuss the topics of our posts, as well as their own data and sources, which we hope will create an ongoing dialogue about the area now known as Granite County. STONEWALL HALL- From 1865 to 1875 when Virginia City was Montana’s territorial capital, the Territorial Legislature met on the second floor of this stone building. Constructed in 1864, it is Montana’s oldest standing capitol building. The second floor also housed the Virginia City Lyceum, a small library for “civilized” young men. The retail clothing store of Greenhood, Bohm & Company, a national chain whose company salesmen traveled by stage across Montana, occupied the first floor. After 1882, R. O. Hickman and then Jacob Albright operated the clothing store. In 1914, part of the 1890s storefront was removed and the building was converted into the Dudley Garage.-National Register of Historic Places in Cooperation with https://mhs.mt.gov/ Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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