Celebrating Montana Preservation
Explore award-winning preservation projects across the state, and Montana SHPO's "Celebrate Montana Preservation" greeting card and poster series.
Historic Preservation Awards
Every two years, the Montana Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) hosts the Historic Preservation Awards Ceremony. Certificates of registration are given to Montana properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places within the past two years. The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s cultural resources worthy of preservation.
The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) celebrated outstanding historic preservation work in Montana at Helena’s Myrna Loy Center on Friday, May 16, 2025.
The Montana Historical Society and Governor’s Office presented the 2025 Historic Preservation Awards, recognized Montana properties recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
(links to more, coming soon!)
2025 Montana Historic Preservation Awards
- Gary Smith
- Joan Brownell
- The Crowley Block
- Kevin Kooistra
- Kevin and Angela McPherson (Dion Block)
Retiring Historic Preservation Review Board Members
- Frank LaLiberty
- Jeff Shelden
- Patti Casne
- Nick Kujawa
- Marcella Sherfy Walter
2023 - 2024 National Register Certificates
- Regis Grocery
- Baatz Block
- Driver’s Saloon and Café
- Manley’s General Store
- Westgate Village Shopping Center
- Lavina School Historic District
- Northern Montana College Girls Residence Hall
- Lewis and Clark County Hospital Historic District Boundary Increase
- Orange Street Underpass Additional Documentation
- Sacajawea/Miles Park Historic District
- Hillcrest Cemetery
- Robworth Apartments
- Ruffatto School
- Head Chief-Young Mule Charge
- Basin Creek Park Historic District
- Butte-Anaconda Historic District (Additional Documentation) 308-310 West Silver Street
- Harding Way Historic District
- Crystal Ice & Fuel Company
- James F. Battin Federal Building
- Riverside Park
- Wise River Ranger Station
- Main Boulder Ranger Station
- Monture Guard Station
- West Fork Ranger Station
- Meyers Creek Work Center
Greeting Card and Poster Series
In 1981, the Montana State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) launched its first preservation poster featuring a circa-1890 ore car used by the Bi-Metallic Mining Company. In 2022, after 40 years of annual poster production, our office decided to try something new and created greeting cards instead.
The Power of Perspective: Montana's Hydroelectric Power History
Montana’s industrial-scale hydroelectric power history began with the 1890 construction of Black Eagle Dam on the Missouri River. Impoundment hydroelectric facilities support industry, recreation, and electrify the nation. The resulting inundation displaces people, food sources, and traditional ways of life, and drastically changes the environmental and cultural landscape.
