McKinley School
Then: Students, donned in appropriate attire for the age, proudly stand at attention for a group photo in 1910. Now: Children frolic and play at recess at McKinley School.
Senior High
Then: Prior to 1939, high school students in Billings attended the crowded and congested Lincoln School (now referred to as the Lincoln Center.) With the leadership of superintendent Mike Gallagher, the school district applied for supplemental funds from the Public Works Administration totaling about $1.3 million. Grand Avenue and Virginia Lane was selected as the building site, and the school board received much criticism for building a school “way out in the country.� The job was completed in 1940, when this photograph was taken. Now: Located in the heart of Billings, Senior High School offers a coeducational, comprehensive learning experience with a multitude of extracurricular and academic activities. School population now tallies upward of 1,800 students.
2500 block of Montana Avenue
Then: The historic Commercial Hotel anchors the 2500 block of Montana Avenue in the 1920s. The structure was torn down in 1967, but several of the original edifices on the block remain today. Now: Montana Avenue brims with local art, culture and cuisine.
MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY 2013 I 63