Havre's Historic Districts Residential , Downtown and Railroad
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avre offers three historic district tours for people to learn about the past: the Havre Residential District, the Downtown District and the Railroad District. All will give you a wonderful look back at Havre’s development over the
years. Self-guided walking tour maps are available at the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, 130 5th Ave., and the Havre-Hill County Library, 402 3rd St.
Havre Residential Historic District The Havre Residential Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The first settler in what is now Havre was John Bell, a sergeant from Fort Assinniboine. His first home was a simple log cabin. With the coming of the railroad came more settlers and they became merchants, business people, farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs. As their finances increased, so did the need for permanent homes and many forms of popular architecture were constructed and still proudly exist today. All homes in the HRHD are privately owned. People are asked to respect the privacy of the homeowners and residents –– leave only footprints and take only photographs from the public right of ways – streets, boulevards and sidewalks.
The homestead boom and the creation of Hill County sparked the growth of businesses and industries. Many of Havre’s big commercial businesses like the Havre Commercial Company, the Lou Lucke Company and the H. Earl Clack Company were located on 3rd Avenue. These companies capitalized on the large number of people arriving or passing through town. New industries and businesses continued to develop and meet the needs of the growing community. These companies expanded while cementing Havre’s place as the regional hub in north-central Montana. Historic Railroad District In 1891, Bullhook Siding was chosen as the Great Northern Railway division point but railroad officials, especially Hill, did not think “Bullhook Bottoms” was a dignified enough name for their new rail hub. To decide on a new name, the town held a meeting. Though that first meeting ended in a brawl, the second meeting was more successful. There, the citizenry agreed that only the original five homesteaders, Gus Descelles, Exor Pepin, who was the nephew of Simon Pepin, Tom McDevitt, Joe Demars and Charlie Goutchie would be allowed to vote. After several suggestions, including “France” to acknowledge their common heritage, Gus Descelles then suggested Havre after his parents’ hometown of Le Havre, France. “Havre” means “the haven or harbor” and won the vote. In 1890, the Great Northern sent several hundred workers to Bullhook Bottoms to build a depot and several rail sidings. The depot was complete with a platform about two feet off the ground to facilitate boarding passengers and loading freight. The depot served as the gateway to the community. In 1904, a new depot was constructed, it is still used today, trimmed with granite and fronted by a small landscaped park. In August 1893, 26 people voted to incorporate Havre as a city on Sept. 5 of that year. The town-site was platted south of the railroad tracks on parts of Descelles’ and Simon Pepin’s ranches. ■ See Havre Historic District Page 36
Havre’s Historic Downtown Business District James J. Hill was very aware of the corrupt image Havre had, and he attempted to “clean up” the town. Hill called for social change, claiming Havre’s image tarnished any chance to entice outside visitors. Local entrepreneurs saw the potential the homestead boom could provide and promoted Havre as well. The Havre Industrial Association and the Havre Business Association did their parts to bring settlers to Havre with such slogans as “Boast Don’t Knock” and the newspaper ads described Havre as a “City of Progress.”
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