By Josh Margolis
MALTA, Mont. (NMB) – The Edwards and McLellan Block in Malta has been nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
Located by the intersection of South 1st Street East and South 1st Avenue East, the commercial brick building was constructed by Lee Edwards and William McLellan in 1910. It initially featured office space upstairs and a mercantile on the ground floor.
John Boughton is the Montana National Register Coordinator and works at the State Historic Preservation Office. He says that the block is practically guaranteed to officially receive the recognition.
“There’s no doubt that this building will be listed in the National Register. Both for its architecture, and for its contributions to the life of Malta itself at that time and the services that it provided.”
Boughton says the mercantile was a major player on the Hi-Line back in the day.
“Especially again, in that northeast area. They serviced a large, large area and supplied goods from clothing and food, agricultural supplies. The downstairs area, the basement portion, actually did provide other services, usually for repairs and such for equipment. So they were quite instrumental in the move of Malta becoming a major metropolitan area during that time.”
The block operates today similar to how it has historically, but the office space upstairs has been converted to lodging, while retaining nearly all historic space and dimensions.
If the building does make its way into the National Register, Boughton says it could help the owners receive tax credits.
“It’s mostly recognition. Some people, when they are doing work on a building that is listed in the National Register, they are eligible for a 20 percent federal tax credit and a five percent tax credit. I don’t think the owners at this point are interested in that. But I know for a fact they’ll probably want to get one of the National Register plaques that people see around the state. That is actually a main driver for a lot of people getting their buildings listed in the register. They really like to advertise the fact that they have a neat piece of history.”
A pdf of the nomination form, which includes further information and photographs, can be viewed here.
Boughton says they expect to hear back on the status of the nomination within the next two months.
