P
hilipsburg
Boomtown Surviving by Elizabeth A. Rauf University of Montana
Elizabeth A. Rauf Š 2008
Thank you To Dennis S., for the inspiration. To my classmates, for playing devil’s advocate. To the Ritas, for the faith. To my parents, for the nagging. To Tracy M. and Christina O. for the tools. To Keith G. and Keith B., for the time. To the Granite County Museum and Cultural Center, for the photos.
This book is dedicated to Philipsburg, which isn’t so much buildings and streets as it is the open arms and minds of the people who call it home. Thank you for putting up with my camera and my questions.
Contents Journey to Today Getting the Word Out Small Town Attraction Specializing in Atmosphere Sweet Patience Modern Pay Dirt Room at the Inn? Making it Work ‘A Small Community that Wouldn’t Quit’
5 15 22 41 45 49 59 71 81
Finding Philipsburg Leaving Missoula, driving east on Interstate 90, you soon pass a billboard. “Philipsburg” it reads in an Old West-feeling font. It seems like an obvious tourist trap and as you continue driving east, you expect to find more signs, all touting a different site to see in the town, as Wall Drug in South Dakota Doe’s for a hundred miles in either direction. But there are no other signs. Maybe it is because of this lack of advertisement that you decide to visit. Maybe you also know that driving by Philipsburg only adds 30 minutes to your drive to Anaconda, so it’s not that far out of your way. You get off I-90 in Drummond and drive south along the Pintler Scenic Route; through plains and a small town; through a green valley between rocky, pine-covered hills that look like they want to be mountains. The road straightens out some and soon you see the same billboard, welcoming you to Philipsburg, a town of about 900. You can’t see much from State Route 1; it mostly looks like houses, scattered up the mountainside. As you drive up the main street, Broadway, there are dirt and gravel roads in either direction. The street signs are painted wood. You know exactly when you’ve hit downtown; the street is lined with parking spaces and people saunter from store to store. All the buildings feel restored and it isn’t until you get out and start to walk around that you realize it’s because they are restored – turn-of-the-century brick buildings with false metal fronts, painted nearly every color imaginable. The main section of downtown has eight buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places. You continue exploring – the antique shops, the craft store, the Museum. As you learn more about Philipsburg, you learn that this town is different. This is a boomtown surviving. 2
FAR RIGHT: Signboards hang out over the sidewalk. RIGHT: The original foundation is visible on this building. BELOW: A northern view from the cemetary.
TOP LEFT: Street signs in Philipsburg. LEFT: The sidewalks are lined with benches and wrought iron tables, bringing the indoors outside. TOP: Looking up Broadway from the edge of town.
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All historic photos courtesy of the Granite Co. Museum and Cultural Center.
J the
ourney
Today
to
The main street of Philipsburg. The Golden Rule building is now The Sweet Palace and Huffman Grocery is now The Sapphire Gallery.
Philipsburg is a town built up on its history. Walking around, you can see little bits of history everywhere. An out-of-place stone foundation here. A crumbling brick building there. And all around are signs designating this part of town as a historical landmark. There are modern parts, too, of course. The flashing red light. The electric lamps. Cars line the street, not horses. But to truly understand this town, you must understand its past – you must understand the booms and busts of a mining town.
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old. Silver Purchase Act, which required the government to purThat’s what brought hordes of men and a few chase silver. Without that steady demand, panic set in and women West during the second half of the 1800s. Philipsburg experienced its next bust. Although it was first found in large quantities in CaliforIt wasn’t until World War I that Philipsburg experienced nia in 1849, many fortune seekers went west before the big another mining boom – in manganese, which was used in strikes. Some ventured north to batteries. But this also was fleetMontana, where gold was dising. Even so, in the 1950s and ‘60s, covered in 1846. there was a mine and sawmill Construction on the first mine operating in Philipsburg. This near Rock Creek began in 1865. is when Everett Miller moved to That mine only operated for one town – in 1959. year and closed in 1867 during “I had been in the wood busithe gold bust, but it was the site ness all my life,” Miller said. of many future mines built by “There was a big sawmill being various companies and many built and there were lots of probdifferent men. lems, so I came to check it out.” The town was named for PhilWhat he discovered was that ip Diedesheimer, who built the nothing had been accomplished James Stuart Mill, one of the first and the books were awful. The successful mines in town. He was owner hired Miller to fix everyBarber shop, circa 1900. a graduate of a prestigious minthing so it would work properly. ing school and the residents in the area thought Philipsburg And he did. The mill began operating smoothly and honwas easier to pronounce than Diedesheimersburg.1 estly. At first, the mills mined gold. Miners found silver, but Zane Murfitt of the Flint Creek Valley Bank also came to had no effective way of extracting it at the time. Silver min- Philipsburg around that time. ing began in earnest around 1870, when better technology “I moved here in 1960,” Murfitt said. “The sawmill was bewas available to extract the ore from the rock, but stopped ing completed. There was quite a lot of activity then. There in 1893 when the federal government repealed the Sherman were maybe 140 students in the high school. We were pros-
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Doe’s Drug Store, turn of the century.
Everett Miller Zane Murfitt
Street vendor on Broadway.
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perous at that time.” Esther McDonald moved near Philipsburg in 1953. She married a rancher who lived just outside of town. “We were very busy with mining then,” McDonald said. “There were a lot of men hauling ore.” The sawmill closed in 1964, but Miller said he stayed because he loved the country and the people were wonderful. “I really enjoy living here,” he said. “The people are so friendly and good.” McDonald and Murfitt both said that a lot of families left once the mine and sawmills had closed. “There wasn’t much going on in those years,” McDonald said. The town has changed a lot since Miller has been around. “There used to be two of each store, one on each side of the street (Broadway)” like two drug stores and two hardware stores, Miller said. “There were seven bars and seven churches and all the bars were on the south side of Broadway and all churches were on the north side.” This was because all the brothels were on the south side, so none of the town’s churchgoing ladies would have to cross paths
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with the prostitutes. “I expect I’ve seen this town go up and down 10 times,” Miller said. “Someone always seems to come in to give jobs for a little while.” In the 1980s, the economy turned bad all over the country and Philipsburg was not spared. “Throughout the ‘80s there was a high cost of interest because of inflation,” Murfitt said. “This had an effect on our borrowers because it increased the expense of operation. It affected a lot of ag(riculture) people more than other industries.” Murfitt said that in the 1990s, things started to turn around in Philipsburg. Miller said that he has watched the town change several times, but it has gotten more touristy in the past five years. Miller did his own business evaluation in 1965. He said that at that time, about 13 percent of the business in town came from tourists. He said he guesses that it has to have at least doubled. “Tourism is just the cream on your coffee because you still need lunch pails to make a town work,” Miller said. u
“I expect I’ve seen this town go up and down 10 times. Someone always seems to come in to give jobs for a little while.”
Old foundations are still evident around town.
~Everett Miller
The Philipsburg Mail has been publishing since the late 1800s. It is still operating today as a weekly newspaper. Mayor Anne Fillmore said that along with the hospital and school, the newspaper is a vital part of the Philipsburg community.
These statues commemorate James Jones, a miner who survived a Nez Perce Indian attack. They were erected in the middle of town in the early 1990s. They are outside the town hall and public library at the only flashing red light in town. Another metal statue, one of a bear, is one block west on Broadway.
Doe’s Drug Store.
The Palace Bar.
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A flashing red light has replaced the lamp post that once stood in the middle of this intersection, but the clock is still there on the corner building that housed the Mason’s lodge, and the Golden Rule sign is still painted high on a red-brick building.
Word
Getting the
OUT Marketing is never an easy task, but is especially hard when the product is hard to get to. Philipsburg is off the beaten path and businesses and services must use more uncommon methods of advertising to attract visitors.
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f you drive across South Dakota on Interstate 90, you can’t help but notice all the billboards for the Wall Drug Store. Hundreds of billboards go for miles in either direction, touting the world’s largest drug store and its ice water. You won’t find such billboards in most of Montana. The Highway Beautification Act became federal law in 1965, mostly at the insistence of Lady Bird Johnson. Since then, Montana has not been allowed to erect new billboards on scenic byways, as stipulated by the law.1 As it turns out, most of Montana’s main highways are scenic byways. So how does a small historic, out-of-the-way town pull in travelers when it can’t advertise along the main expressway? “Word of mouth is crucial,” said Shirley Beck, co-owner of The Sweet Palace and The Sapphire Gallery. “We need to develop relationships with those who live within four hours of us,” she said, “while inviting everyone.” Beck said they hope that those people will have a good enough time that they
TOP: Since most of Philipsburg’s visitors come on day trips, it is easiest for the town to market to those people who live close enough to make it to Philipsburg and back in a day. BOTTOM: Attractive and colorful signs hang out along the sidewalk to entice potential customers. While the stores may not sell historic things, the signs have a historic feel, reflecting the town, not the merchandise.
Visitors to The Sapphire Gallery can sign a guest book, leaving their home town and comments. Their homes range from Missoula, to Maine, to New Zealand. And all of the comments are positive.
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spread the word. But it is hard to rely solely on word of mouth, even if a business makes a good impression on its customers. So they must also advertise. “The businesses pool their advertising money,” said Janice Gross, president of the Chamber of Commerce. “We can advertise in things that would be too expensive for one business.” For example, one business by itself could not afford a full page advertisement in a nationally distributed magazine, like Better Homes and Gardens, but together, they can. Doe Brothers Old Fashioned Soda Fountain owners, Tony
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and Ruth Marchi, said they felt lucky to have had four Doe Brothers billboards grandfathered in, but most businesses aren’t so lucky. Tony said they also advertise in the Philipsburg Territory and that Beck takes them all over the state. The Philipsburg Territory is a newspaper published by the Philipsburg Chamber of Commerce that highlights the history of the town, the historical buildings and what there is to do. It is published twice a year. “About 15,000 Territories are printed,” Gross said. “As people travel around, they get distributed to places that pass things out, like motels.”
Mayor Anne Fillmore, who is also the Chamber’s treasurer, said that the Philipsburg Territories are “without a doubt the Chamber’s most effective tool for marketing the community.” Another way Philipsburg businesses advertise is through rack cards. These cards are placed in racks at the businesses around town and across the state. They have various information about the attraction, restaurant or hotel, and contact information. “Those are a terrific marketing tool,” Tony Marchi said. “Travelers go to these racks and bring them in.” Tony and Ruth Ann also use radio advertising, their Web
Simpler ways the individual businesses can bring in patrons who are already in town are signs. The Doe Brothers’ restaurant usually has the blackboard outside on the sidewalk to help bring in hungry guests. Huffman’s Grocery advertises lodging to keep guests around for a little longer.
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site, which is linked from the Chamber of Commerce’s Web site, and put menus at the Discovery Basin ski area to attract customers. “It’s not any one thing, but a compilation that gets people to come in,” Tony said. Karyn Byhre Hansen, owner of The Inn at Philipsburg, has no setout marketing plan, but said that the biggest assets for her business are its location and the Web site. “I built the Web site the first year I was here, and it gets a lot of hits,” Byhre Hansen said. “But a lot of people come in and say, ‘Oh, we need a place to stay. Here is one.’” The Inn is the first lodging establishment a visitor would pass when driving up Broadway from State Route 1. Also, town organizers purchase space in the travel guides that market the entire state. Each year, Travel Montana publishes its own free travel guides, which can be found nearly everywhere travelers may stop – hotels,
The Chamber of Commerce publishes the Philipsburg Territory newspapers and they are distributed all over the state. Large stacks stay in town, too, though, to give visitors information about businesses and the buildings that are part of the Historic District.
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“That’s the thing about Philipsburg. It doesn’t just look like old buildings – they really are the old buildings.”
rest areas, restaurants. The booklets that cover all of Montana, also divide the state into territories, each with its own guide. The surprising thing is that there is no grand plan to all that is going on in Philipsburg. “There is no over-arching scheme that I’m aware of,” Gross said. So far people have brought up ideas and the rest of the Chamber thought they have been good ideas, she said. Most of the marketing the town has created emphasizes the history of the place. “That’s the thing about Philipsburg,” Gross said.
~ Janice Gross
“It doesn’t just look like old buildings – they really are the old buildings.” Philipsburg had its downtown and surrounding area designated as a Nationally Registered Historic District on Sept. 30, 1986. It was relatively soon after – in the early 1990s – that the buildings started being renovated, refurbished and painted. Once the painting was done, the town was entered in the Prettiest Painted Places competition. Philipsburg was a finalist in its category. The painting helped put Philipsburg on the map. That’s when people started showing up. u
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Small Town
Attraction Being a tourist destination isn’t easy. Once the marketing is done, the place has to make sure there is enough to do for guests of all ages and persuasions. And they have to be fed, as well. The key to a good destination is variety.
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n the late 1980s, Philipsburg wasn’t a profitable place to be. The Black Pine Mine, which had closed, reopened in May 1987 only to close again nine months later.1 Tourism was part of the economy then, but not as much as now. The mine had represented hope. People had returned when it first reopened. Once it closed again, the town needed something else to sustain itself. Hope was renewed with a coat of paint. *** Jerry Sulivan was hired by the Flint Creek Valley Bank in 1989 to stabilize it. “The economic stress on the community was very high,” he said. “The bank
FAR RIGHT: The soda fountain was built in the 1920s and has an Italian marble front. RIGHT: Most of the candy at The Sweet Palace is contained in brass buckets.
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at that time had begun to foreclose on properties to make an effort to get the assets of the bank in a condition the (federal) regulators would accept.” The assets the bank was reclaiming were buildings. Many of them were downtown and most were falling apart. Sullivan viewed them more as a liability than an opportunity. Then he went to a convention in Minneapolis. There, he heard a banker from Chicago’s South Side talk about how the area’s dilapidated businesses had neglected general upkeep. The banker talked about granting microloans so the businesses could improve. This worked. Sullivan returned and convinced the bank to help repair the Courtney Ho-
tel and paint the Sayrs building in the summer of 1992. It wasn’t simple. The Courtney Hotel had had squatters who built open fires on the second floor. A hole in the roof let in a waterfall whenever it rained. Today, the building is now the museum, which between 1,500 and 2,000 people visit each year. In November of 1992, Shirley Beck and Dale Siegford repainted the Huffman Grocery, which they had converted into The Sapphire Gallery, a gem
“(The town) is clearly transitioning into a more tourist-based economy.�
~County Commissioner Maureen Connor
Boots hang in the Opera House Theatre basement, a.k.a. costume storage/prop room.
The Opera House Theatre showcases live, professional performances all summer.
and jewlery store. “Everyone was so impressed,” Mayor Anne Fillmore said. “Everyone jumped in and did it, too.” The town was entered in the Prettiest Painted Places contest early in the 21st century and was a finalist. *** And so the visitors started coming in larger numbers. “(The town) is clearly transitioning into a more tourist-based economy,” County Commissioner Maureen Conner said. “This is a very good thing because previous economies have been
based on mining and timber, and those have really died off.” Globally, tourism – which is people traveling outside their homes for reasons other than daily commuting2 – makes $2.65 trillion annually as an industry.3 In 2004, tourists spent more than $650 billion nationally. Montana took in only a fraction of that, ranking 41 out of the 50 states in the amount of money spent in the state, but in the dollar-to-resident ratio, Montana ranked fifth behind Nevada, Hawaii, Wyoming and Florida.4
The tourism industry is not just hotels and visitor attractions. Norma Nickerson, an expert in tourism at the Univeristy of Montana, defines it as the mix of interdependent businesses that directly or indirectly serve the traveling public.5 In 2005, nonresidents spent $2.75 billion traveling in Montana. While 28 percent of that was spent on gas and oil, restaurants and bars made up 21 percent, retail accounted for 16 percent and lodging took in 9 percent. Each dollar spent by an out-of-state tourist makes 36.4 cents for a Montana Once the taffy base is pulled and flavored, it is cut and wrapped with this machine, which is very loud.
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Montana sapphires come in a variety of colors, and the jewlery at The Sapphire Gallery takes advantage of that.
Ice cream cones at Doe’s are displayed on an old scale. Some of the merchandise in the Pickle Dish, like these hats, is made by local artisans.
Heidi Evans cuts the truffle center so it will be a clean break after it sets and before it gets dipped in chocolate. This particular batch is Irish-cream flavored.
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resident. The national average is 28.7 cents,6 which means that tourism has a bigger effect in Montana than is has in other states. *** Many things bring people to Philipsburg – and plenty of people are coming. According to travel industry figures, Montana residents spend more then $832 million on pleasure travel within the state each year. Thirty-eight percent of all travel was day trips. With Butte, Missoula and Helena all with-
Janice Gross describes herself as a “bead nut,” and her store, The Pickle Dish, is full of them.
in a 125-mile radius of Philipsburg, an amazing number of people could visit just for a day. Janice Gross, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said that about 75 percent of the downtown business comes from non-locals. Beck said what she feels Philipsburg offers is “specialized retail.” The number one reason Montana residents take day trips is for shopping (34 percent).7 A lot of other people in town said they felt people came to Philipsburg for the fishing and other outdoor
activities. Twenty three percent of overnight trips taken by residents were taken for fishing, whereas only 10 percent of day trips were for fishing. Philipsburg offers visitors various kinds of stores to browse: The Pickle Dish, Gilding the Lily, Schnibbles and the Moose Mercantile offer all kinds of gifts, a lot of them Montana-based. The Pickle Dish and the Moose Mercantile also offer merchandise, such as quilts, made by local artisans. A visitor can find antiques at Stuff ‘n Such
and Junk on Broadway. But probably the biggest draw is the candy store. *** The Sweet Palace offers guests chocolates and caramels, licorice and jelly beans, taffies and hard candies, fudge and lollipops. They offer 350,882 different candy varieties. If you leave without finding something you like, you’re too picky. Business partners Beck and Siegford started The Sweet Palace in 1998 after four years visiting candy stores all over the West, trying to figure out what they liked and what they didn’t. They knew they wanted a big store. Many stores they visited felt too small to be inviting or accessible. “We wanted a candy store
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big enough that two wheelchairs could pass each other,” she said. The two had originally met at Gem Mountain, where Beck was a manager and worked with Siegford, who was heat treating sapphires. Beck said he had the product knowledge and she had the sales skills to go into business together. They opened The Sapphire Gallery in 1992. Because candy is a consumable, the pair thought it would be a nice complement to The Sapphire Gallery. Patrons who enjoyed the store would have to come back to get more of their favorites. “But it has really taken on a life of its own,” Beck said. She said candy is a happy business and that the store
“(The Sweet Palace is heads and tails above everything else.”
~ Anne Fillmore
The Copper Cauldron
makes most of its own candy because that’s what the customers want. County Commissioner Maureen Conner said that everyone knows about The Sweet Palace. Mayor Anne Fillmore said that it is the main draw for Philipsburg. “It brings (travelers) in and they discover we have other things,” Fillmore said. “It is heads and tails above everything else ... due to their own advertising.” *** The outdoors also brings visitors to Philiprsburg. There is hiking and skiing and maybe most importantly fishing. Connor sees two types of people come to Philipsburg – the shoppers and the recreation group who are campers and fishers and mountain bikers. “They know where they want to go already,” Connor said. “You don’t see people wandering through for that.” The Flint Creek Valley Outfitters is the only outdoors shop in town. The store has been open for
three years and is an off-shoot of the Blackfoot River Outfitters in Missoula. Terri Raugland and her husband have lived in Missoula for about 20 years and have been guiding just as long. They watched Philipsburg grow and saw room for a fly shop – they decided to fill that need. Anglers in the area have three main options for fishing. The first, and closest, is Flint Creek, which flows north alongside State Route 1 for part of the drive to Drummond, Mont. The headwaters of Rock Creek are a 20-minute drive from town. And then there is Georgetown Lake, farther south along SR 1. It offers ice fishing in the winter, Raugland said, and is closed for the month of April before opening up to the summer fishermen. Those anglers might spend most of the day out of town, but they still contribute to business – and not just at the fly shop. Shopkeepers recommend places to eat or stay based on who the customer is. They might send a family down to
TOP: Flint Creek Outfitters not only sells lures and fishing gear, but also Philipsburg souvenirs. Bottom: The prop room for the Opera House Theatre is in the basement, where everything is organized and labeled.
the Doe Brothers Old Fashioned Soda Fountain for an ice cream cone, and groups without children down to the Sunshine Station for a good sandwich. “They always ask for suggestions,” Raugland said. “We try to disperse the business. We want to send people to places that will make them come back.” “We try to get them to stay in town as much as possible,” she said. *** Sapphire mining is another one of the draws of Philipsburg, and The Sapphire Gallery, Mackenzie Gems and Gem Mountain – a mining facility outside of town – cater to that crowd. Sue Jenner, owner of The Broadway Hotel, said that although she usually sees more fly fishermen, last summer the majority of the hotel’s guests came specifically for the sapphires, especially out at Gem Mountain. They might have
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seen more miners because Rock Creek was closed for about a month due to forest fires. Glenna Nelson from Arlee, Mont., and Rebecca Pasley from Rewood City, Calif., came to Philipsburg specifically to mine for sapphires. “When all of us sisters get together, we have to do something,” Pasley said. One of the other sisters heard about The Sapphire Gallery from a friend, so they decided to try it. “We thought we were actually going to be in a mine,” Pasley said. The town also hosts special events like Flint Creek Valley Days and the Art and Jazz Festival. The Accordion Festival is being phased out. “Everyone’s too busy now,” Jenner said. “(The festival) isn’t as organized now. There’s no stage, no steak dinner. It’s sad ... but totally understandable.” In 2005, residents and nonresidents
The ski slopes at Discovery Ski Basin are visible from Philipsburg. Rumors circulate about a road going straight from town to the slopes. Everett Miller said that the Sunshine Station, the bar/restaurant/gas station along State Route 1 encourages skiers to stop in by offering a free drink with a ski ticket.
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Don’t be surprised if, when you leave The Sweet Palace, you are asked if you would like a fudge sample. There is a variety of fudges with nuts or caramel or fruit. Some don’t even contain chocolate.
contributed $397 million to the art, entertainment and recreation industry in Montana generating about 18,000 jobs. That includes money spent in Philipsburg at the museum, sapphire mines and the Opera House Theatre, the oldest operating theater in Montana. *** Claudette Dringle had lived in Philipsburg, but said she absolutely could not make a living. So she moved to Alaska. “The whole time I was there, I was making plans to come back,” Dringle said. She worked with her husband, Tim, to transform the Opera House Theatre. Tim had originally wanted to show movies, but they figured the community couldn’t support it. So the Dringles have been hosting live summer theater for the past 10 years. They hire an artistic director, a musical director, a piano player and professional actors each summer. All of the actors play in the three performances that show in rotation all summer.
“We have to have actors that can play anything, sing, dance and do comedy,” she said. Since the Dringles don’t actually work in theater, they are much different to work for and they now have a pretty high return rate of performers, Dringle said Also each summer, the theater features a Montana playwright. “It was not initially done on purpose,” Claudette said. “But it is now.” Most of the theater’s patrons are from Montana, generally within an hour or so drive. “We do have those out-of-staters who are just passing through,” she said, “but they generally don’t know about us until they get here.” In the fall, the Opera House Theatre always has a Halloween show. “It’s so fun to see what some of the local business people are willing to do,” Claudette said. Tourism has become an integral part of Philipsburg. And residents hope it’s enough to sustain the town.u
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Copper cauldrons rest on the floor of the viewing area in the Copper Cauldron. Although these candy-making tools cannot be used any more, Heidi Evans said they won’t be thrown out. You simply can’t find them anymore, she said.
Previous page Top left: Beth Williams uses her small fingers to give these maple creams the proper swirl on top. Bottom left: Patsy Swartz washes the gravel that Rebecca Pasley and Glenna Nelson bought at The Sapphire Gallery.
Anglers can buy lures and other gear at the Flint Creek Valley Outfitters, as well as get fishing lessons. Different lures are used at different times of year to acurately reflect what kinds of insects are hatching at the time.
Top Right: Quilts line the walls at the Pickle Dish. Bottom right: Flint Creek Valley Outfitters sells numerous kinds of fishing lures.
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Specializing in
Atmosphere As you walk up Broadway, the main street in Philipsburg, you encounter one historical building after another, all painted in pretty pastel and bright colors. But only one has the phrase, “Any time is ice cream time,� painted on its window. That store is the Doe Brothers Old Fashioned Soda Fountain, owned by Tony and Ruth Ann Marchi, who visited the little town 55 miles west of Butte, in 2004. They had no intention of settling there, much less opening a business.
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“We normally play old cowboy music so people know what it used to be like and they carry that home with them.”
“We went to the Sweet Palace, stayed at the Broadway Hotel, left and never had another thought about it,” Tony said. For the 12 years before their move to Philipsburg, the Marchis had worked in a seasonal business, running concession stands at the University of Virginia for six months out of the year, and working the other six in Panama City Beach, Fla. But the Marchis got tired of all the traffic in the South and decided to move west. They had been looking at real estate, but said there was a sense of urgency in 2005 because they saw property prices rising. Tony said they stayed in Anaconda and looked in Red Lodge and Whitefish, but never really looked at Philipsburg. “But one day, we had come into town to buy candy at the Sweet Palace for our son’s platoon,” he said. “We were backing out and saw the ‘For Sale’ sign. We thought it was a cool store, and we closed on the property in December 2005.” For Ruth Ann, the locals are what made the difference. “We talked to the townspeople, and they were so warm and genuine; extreme-
~ Tony Marchi
ly helpful and supportive,” she said. The Marchis threw themselves into remodeling. The only part of the building – originally built in 1887 – that remains the same as it was when the Marchis bought it is the soda fountain, which was installed in the 1920s and has an Italian marble front. Everything else had to be completely refurbished. When they arrived in April 2006, Tony said, the place was a disaster. All the toppings and syrups had been left in the fountain and the Marchis worked for six weeks to get the restaurant ready. But that wasn’t the most difficult part of starting this business, he said. “The hardest part was definitely repairing the reputation the business had before we bought it,” he said. “The lady we had bought it from took a job in Helena and had teenagers running the place.” The first thing they did was put up “Under new ownership” banners on all the billboards, Tony said. “Then we corrected the problems with really good food, friendly and quick service, and a wonderful atmosphere.”
For Ruth Ann, the hardest thing was getting the business started without Tony, who went back East to work for a while, although nonfunctioning machines were problematic, too. “We went through with the previous owner and asked, ‘Does this work?’ and ‘Does that work?’ and she said yes, but when we got in here, we found out that they didn’t,” Ruth said. “We had to fabricate parts to get the soda fountain to work.” And the Marchis know what they want to give tourists when it comes to atmosphere. Tony said that he and Ruth Ann have traveled and they know what they like. “We wanted to create an atmosphere so the traveler-tourist felt like they had stepped back in time,” Tony said. “We normally play old cowboy music so people know what it used to be like and they carry that home with them.” Ruth Ann agreed that Philipsburg’s history is something they need to preserve. “History is not just something to study in a book,” she said. “It’s our past.” u
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“Philipsburg has been so good to us that I just want to join the effort and make this a positive experience for all of our travelers and locals.”
~ Ruth Ann Marchi
S
weet Patience W
hile strolling up and down Broadway in Philipsburg, most visitors will pass the Copper Cauldron. It doesn’t look like much – mostly just empty space with a few pieces of heavy-looking machinery. But that’s because the magic that happens here happens early in the morning, before it gets too hot to work. This is where The Sweet Palace makes most of its chocolates, all of its caramels and assorted other candies, and enough taffy base to supply the store
and ship to other candy shops. The key to all this candy making is Heidi Evans, daughter of Sweet Palace co-owner, Shirley Beck. Evans got her degree in marketing from the University of Montana in 1997. She helped Shirley open the candy store before getting married and moving to Salt Lake City, Utah. The man who supplied the taffy base for The Sweet Palace lived in Salt Lake City and wanted to retire, so Evans decided to help her mom and apprenticed with him for five months to learn how to
Once all the ingredients are mixed, they have to sit for the flavors to meld (top). After a cream mixture has sat for a while, it is cut onto a plastic tray covered in cornstarch to await dipping in milk or dark chocolate. Heidi Evans meausures one of the two types of rum flavoring she and her mom use to create their rum creams.
make the base. “Everything else about candy making is self-taught,” Evans said. “It’s a lot of chemistry and physics.” And that’s a lot of learning. The Sweet Palace makes 85 percent of their own chocolates. The only chocolates they don’t make themselves are the sugar-free varieties, Beck
said. “They’re kosher, too,” she said. While sugar is the main ingredient in everything, the pair will mix and match other ingredients in order to get the flavor they want. For example, rum creams. They might mix brands so the creams
come out how they like it. “One brand might be more acidic and one might be more mellow, so we mix them,” Evans said. But the one ingredient that is consistent in candy making is patience. “You can’t rush candy,” Evans said. “It needs time to come into its own.” u
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“You can’t rush candy. It needs time to come into its own.”
~ Heidi Evans
Shirley Beck measures sugar for the rum cream.
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After being dipped, all creams get a distinctive top. These maple creams get maple-flavored stripes.
Heidi Evans pours finished taffy base into containers to cool. Each batch makes 250 pounds, and there are 100 pieces of taffy in each pound of base.
Paydirt Modern
Gold and silver’s time has come and gone in Philipsburg, but there is still valuable rock – sapphires – to be found in creeks and mountains for miners who know that those translucent pebbles are not smoothed glass.
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hilipsburg has experienced a series of booms and busts in its mining history. Gold, silver and manganese have all come and gone, leaving behind an economic void where industry used to be. The only mining bringing people to Philipsburg anymore is sapphire mining, and one can make more money by charging people to find their own, as opposed to mining commercially, even though Montana is the most significant source of sapphires in North America.1 The first documented discovery of sapphires in Montana was in 1865, when they were found along with placer gold in the Missouri River. Most were pink, green, yel2 low or clear. Sapphires were first discovered
3
in Rock Creek near Philipsburg in 1892. The first gold miners to discover the sapphires had no knowledge of their worth, and usually just tossed them back in the creek.4 But as more sapphires were discovered, and their worth appraised by London gem dealers, it became evident that although the sapphires were very rare, they could not be sold at a profit in their rough state.5 The sapphires had to be shipped elsewhere, cut and marketed that way. 6 Sapphires have been mined intermittently near Philipsburg ever since, but it usually took a backseat to the more profitable substances. Sapphire mining was a tourist and hobbyist attraction. But in 1995, the American Gem Corporation purchased the
Gem Mountain mine near Philipsburg and decided to specifically cater to the sapphire needs of retail jewelers. “It was about mid-May that American Gem sent faxes to all the Chambers (of Commerce) in the area, stating that there would be no public access to mining that year,” Shirley Beck said. “Well, the tourists were already on their way.” Beck and her business partner, Dale Siegford, quickly filled that mining void. Within two weeks of American Gem sending out those press releases, Beck and Siegford bought the building next to their jewlery story, The Sapphire Gallery. They gutted and turned it into a mining room. The Sapphire Gallery has contracts with
Gem-quality sapphires before heat treating.
private claim holders from claims near Gem Mountain, Siegford said. In the historical section of town, a visitor can easily find The Sapphire Gallery, which specializes in sapphires. The mining room next door feels bare in comparison. The floors are unpolished hardwood and none of the chairs or tables match. Patrons can purchase a bag of dirt for $25, and the business guarantees that you will find sapphires. “We put stones in the bags to guarantee a find,” he said, “but there are stones already in there. People’s chances to find a big stone are still there. We just don’t want people to go away empty handed. That’s never a good feeling.”
Gem-quality sapphires after heat treating.
Customers hand their ore over to one of the employees, who opens the plastic bag, dumps the stones and dirt into a mesh-bottom box and shakes it around in a tub of water. He or she dumps the cleaned pebbles out on one of the tall tables, and gives them a plastic film container and tweezers, and shows them what to look for. American Gem closing to public mining turned out to be good for business. “We ended up with quite a little boost,” Siegford said. The rough sapphires are easy to spot. More translucent than the surrounding rubble, they are usually a pale blue or green. As the cusomters pick through the stones, they find sapphires in varying sizes and hues;
also quartz, and maybe a garnet. After a guest picks through it all, and then does it again just to make sure they missed nothing, they go back into the gallery to have their stones evaluated. “Normally, people are pretty excited (at the evaluation),” said Ayme Swartz, who has worked at The Sapphire Gallery for four years. “I’ve only had one person in all my years throw a fit and call it a rip off.” Glenna Nelson from Arlee, Mont., visited The Sapphire Gallery with her sisters. They had such a good time, Nelson said she was going to come again and bring her children. In 2003, the American Gem Corporation went bankrupt and Gem Mountain was once again opened to the public for mining.
“When Gem Mountain repopened, we saw more cutting and more heat treating,” Siegford said. Heat treating is a process of heating the sapphires in a controlled environment with different gases to enhance the colors of the sapphires. Although heat treating has been used for centuries, the modern process was first instituted in the 1960s.7 Each treater has his or her own specifics and they are generally very protective of that process, Siegford said. Heat treating is actually his favorite part of the business. “I really like heat treating, partially because I get little parcels of stuff
from all over the world,” Siegford said. He said it took him almost a year and a half to come up with his first process, but it’s always changing, just like the jewelry business in general. “It’s fun to do some things that weren’t in fashion before,” Siegford said, “like heat treating and then setting in gold, or antique cuts, like the rose cut. “You do it and show it and no one is interested but it gets in the fashion magazines and all of a sudden people are interested,” he said. And it’s that interest – and the thrill of the find – that keep people coming back u
All of the sapphires used in the jewlery sold at The Sapphire Gallery are Montana sapphires, but none of the jewlery making is done on premises. LEFT: A bi-color sapphire that has been heat treated, but not facted, and then set in gold. ABOVE: “Berry Wine” color sapphires from Rock Creek.
The gallery’s busiest day of the week is Sunday, with Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day being its busiest holidays. While the store specializes in sapphires, other stones are sold as well.
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Rough sapphires come in various shapes and sizes. A ruby is a red sapphire, but the red stone found with this group is a garnet.
Previous page Top left: The Sapphire Gallery is not the most colorful building in town, but it has the most colorful and expensive tourist attractions.
Top right: Dale Siegford sorts heated sapphires. He pulls flat and fused one aside. The fused ones will be reheated. The flat cannot be traditionally faceted and will be used for something other than jewlery.
Bottom left: Sisters Rebecca Pasley from Bottom right: A display of “fancy”-colored Redwood, Calif., and Glenna Nelson sapphires from Rock Creek greets patrons from Alree, Mont., examine their washed when the walk in the door. Any sapphire that gravel for sapphires. is not the traditional blue is called a “fancy.”
The gallery walls are lined with mirrors and the shelves have various stone carvings.
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room at the
inn
Lodging is a necessity in a tourist town, and Philipsburg is no exception. The trick is finding the right balance between the supply and demand of rooms. Philipsburg has yet to find that balance, although some are trying.
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hen Philipsburg was in its heyday, miners were renting beds not by the day, but by the hour. Philipsburg isn’t as bustling now, but beds are still an issue. Without adequate lodging, a place cannot encourage visitors to stay the night, and overall spending goes down. Philipsburg has only a few lodging estab-
When the rooms at the Broadway Hotel are booked, the kitchen is a busy place. Sue Jenner offers her guests breakfast each morning and coffee all day.
lishments and everyone agrees that more rooms are necessary. “I turn away at least 10 people a night (in the summer),” said Karyn Byhre Hansen, owner of The Inn at Philipsburg. “At first, I tried to accommodate more people, but I was still turning people away.” Byhre Hansen moved to Philipsburg from Seattle about 10 years ago with a friend to
go skiing. She had visited the town before and had stayed at the Inn. “I stayed in this motel,” she said, “and I kept saying, ‘You know, if I were to have this place, this is what I would do.’ I guess I ate my words.” She was looking to move to a smaller town and liked Philipsburg because of its proximity to the Discovery Ski Basin. Byhre
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Hansen was looking at property to buy and the motel was for sale. My real estate agent asked me to humor her and just check it out, she said. “I went home and made an offer,” Byhre Hansen said. “I thought, ‘What do I have to lose?’” Once she had bought the Inn and moved to Philipsburg, Byhre Hansen undertook the task of renovating the motel. She said she cleaned, replaced linens and drapes, fixed the heating system so each unit could control its own temperature, and hooked up both of the hot water tanks. Once people learned that the place was no longer a dive, she said, locals felt comfortable recommending it to friends and relatives. Byhre Hansen said she has been busy ever since. She bought the log house next door to the Inn and moved in a trailer to try to house even more people. But it was never enough. “All these people came to me, saying we need more rooms, you need to expand,” she said. While Byhre Hansen may not have expanded, others in town have tried to pick up some of the slack. When Sue and Jim Jenner looked into renovating their downtown property
TOP: Sue Jenner BOTTOM: Karyn Byhre Hansen
back into a hotel, which is what it had been near the turn of the 20th century, Jim asked Byhre Hansen if the town needed more rooms. “Karyn said she was full all summer long,” he said. “We saw a need for a threestar – as opposed to a two-star – facility.” And thus The Broadway Hotel was born. The Jenners had first visited Philipsburg 18 years before moving there. They knew a doctor who had a cabin near Rock Creek and decided to visit on their way from Washington state to Yellowstone National Park. They returned several times. Later, when Jim went on his own, he had a surprise for Sue when he came home. “‘I bought a building,’ he told me,” Sue said. Once they had bought a house in Philipsburg, in addition to the downtown building, they started fixing up the first floor of their building to rent. “The second floor was uninhabitable,” Sue said. “There were two and a half bathrooms for the whole floor. There was a hundred years of linoleum and dirt on the floors.” They put in windows to prevent further damage to the second floor. The Jenners started the main renova-
The soil around the Inn would not sustain a garden for Byhre Jansen, so instead she uses flamingos for some color.
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The Hard Rock room in the Broadway is dedicated to the mining that used to go on around Philipsburg. Sue Jenner said that when she first saw this bed, she was afraid the pick ax would fall on whoever was sleeping in the bed, but then she tugged on it a few times and assured herself that it wouldn’t budge.
tions in 2003, using friends, family and locals as help. “People would come by and say, ‘I have an extra two hours, do you need anything painted?’,” Sue said. She picked out the colors and pieces for the rooms. The Broadway’s rooms each have a theme – Great Britain, Route 66, the Andes, mining. There are two reasons for this decision. First, Sue and Jim had a lot of stuff from all of their travels around the world and Jim’s profession making documentary films. Sec-
ond, the Jenners wanted to recognize the community they lived in – hence the rooms dedicated to ranching, mining and the timber industry. “When we first opened, the community was really behind us,” Sue said. “They were so proud of us.” And it showed. “We were successful from day one,” Jim said. “We made money in the first year.” Mayor Anne Fillmore, who is also the certified public accountant in town, said it’s unheard of for a new business to make money
in the first year. “My formula, and it is rarely broken, is that it takes at least three years to break even on a new business,” she said. Both the Inn and the Broadway can boast a 100 percent occupancy rate during the summer, and an average annual occupancy rate of 75 to 85 percent for the Inn and about 65 percent for the Broadway. That’s higher than the state average, which, according to the 2006 edition of the Economic Review of the Travel Industry in Montana, was about 57 percent in 2005 and has been near that
In the winter, when there are few guests, Sue Jenner keeps the heat low to cut costs. This fire place in the common area is the warmest place in the hotel.
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average for the past five years. But being above average isn’t enough for this town. “We could always use more lodging,” Jim said. “The more rooms, the better everyone Doe’s.” A few people in town are trying to bring more rooms to the community. Tony and Ruth Ann Marchi, owners of the Doe Brothers Old Fashioned Soda Fountain, plan to remodel the upper floor of their building, turning it into a hotel. Tony said they originally planned on breaking ground in the winter of 2008, but decided to spend more time on the written business plan and now hope to start renovation in October 2008 and be open by May 2009 for the summer season. “We hope to gut the entire upstairs and put in six historically accurate rooms with 600-thread-count sheets,” he said. Tony said that for a few weekends in February 2008, there wasn’t a room to be had in the town due to a wedding, a movie being filmed and the kite runners competing at Georgetown Lake. “If we had more rooms, we’d see more people staying the night instead of going back to Missoula,” he said. Claudette Dringle, who runs the
Opera House Theatre with her husband, Tim, said that they are lucky they have rooms for their summer actors because there is nowhere to stay in town then. The first floor of the Opera House has been converted into living space for the actors who act in the summer plays. The Dringles also own a little cabin near the Opera House. These rooms are rented as apartments in the winter. “Once we have private bathrooms, we’ll really start promoting that part of our business,” Dringle said. With the obvious success of The Broadway, part-time residents are now approaching Sue to rent their homes. The hotel already rents two cabins, but Sue said she only makes money on one of them. She said it would be tough to take on more rentals. She’s looking for a hotel manager, but hasn’t been able to find one. Byhre Hansen said she has no plans to expand her motel. “If I expanded, I’d have to hire more help,” she said. “And good help is hard to find. If I have no help, I can just clean the rooms myself.” And not expanding also allows her to go skiing – which is the reason she moved to Philipsburg in the first place.u
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“We could always use more lodging. The more rooms, the better everyone Doe’s.”
~ Jim Jenner
Some of the pieces at the Broadway Hotel were specially designed by The Lost Boys, a company in Missoula.
This large, well-painted sign is the first lodging sign visitors see as they drive up Broadway to the historic district.
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The common area at the Broadway Hotel has space for wedding receptions, business presentations and writers’ workshops. It also has books and games for the guests.
LEFT: A carved turtle in the Andes Room, from the Jenner’s time in Ecuador. BELOW: A non-functioning piano in the common room.
M Work
aking it
Philipsburg may be thought to be a good place to live, but it sure isn’t easy. Cost of living and lack of jobs makes it difficult for some people to call this town home.
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hen Beth Williams moved to business in Missoula. the United States from the PhilWilliams has worked at The Sweet Palace ippines 18 years ago, she want- for the past nine years and is also a parted to settle in a small town that would be a time night manager at Huffman’s Grocery, good to raise her children. where she stocks shelves, helps with the She settled on Philipscheck-out line, extends burg. sale prices for another And since then, she has week and accounts for the seen the town change. day’s earnings. “Eighteen years ago, the Although Williams is town was dead,” Williams allergic to chocolate, she said. “I like what has hapenjoys working at The pened. I like more colors Sweet Palace. on the buildings and the “I didn’t know anything more people.” about chocolate before Although there is still working here,” Williams only one grocery store, said. Some mornings, she she likes that it is bigger. dips the creams or truf“I didn’t like having to fles that Heidi Evans, the drive a hundred miles to candy maker, had made, get what we need,” she set and cut down at the said. Copper Cauldron. DipBut Philipsburg’s growping takes cold hands and Beth Williams Doe’s everything at her ing attractiveness comes job at Huffman’s Grocery, from helping small fingers, Williams with a price. said, because hot hands customers to stocking shelves. “Rent was $175 a month change the temperature of 18 years ago,” she said. “Now it’s $400 to the chocolate and large fingers can’t make $500 a month for a house.” the delicate swirls. She works two jobs, her father works All this work is brought home. Williams three, and her husband lives and operates a and her husband, Jim, have tried to instill a
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Beth and her husband, Jim, try to instill good work values in their children, (from left) Cory, Danika and Troy.
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Patsy Swartz works for Beck and Siegford, so she works in both The Sweet Palace and Sapphire Gallery as needed. She might wash gravel one day and wrap caramels the next.
good work ethic in their children. Cory Housel, 17, works with his mother and grandfather at Huffman Grocery. Danicka Housel, 15, works at The Sweet Palace. Troy Housel, 10, shovels sidewalks in the winter, among other things. Jim Williams owns and operates All American Garage Door LLC, in Missoula. “There are always houses being built there,” Beth said. “That’s where the money is. Not here in Philipsburg.” So the Williams have a two-household family so Beth’s children – Jim’s step-children – can attend school in Philipsburg. “This is the best place to raise children,” Beth said, “but it’s hard to afford.” As hard as it is, Beth Williams makes it work for the sake of her family and
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because she loves the community. And she’s not the only one. Karyn Byhre Hansen owns The Inn at Philipsburg and sells real estate. Anne Fillmore is the mayor and a certified public accountant. Janice Gross owns the Pickle Dish and works at the hospital. There is an interesting dichotomy in this town. There are too few jobs that pay a living wage or offer benefits. There are too few people willing to fill the service jobs that are available. There is a great need for employment in Philipsburg. “We need jobs,” Fillmore said, “jobs with benefits that pay a living wage. Because you can’t eat the scenery.” Fillmore attributes the lack of jobs in the town to several causes. “Right now it still has to do with
“We need jobs – jobs with benefits that pay a living wage. Because you can’t eat the scenery.”
~ Anne Fillmore
Beth Williams dips chocolates on a Wednesday morning. The work has to be done before the kitchen area in The Sweet Palace reaches 72 F.
historical things,” she said. “There is no mining, no lumber industry, no industry, light or otherwise.” Everett Miller, who used to work at the sawmill, has seen a lot of change in Granite County. “There’s no manufacturing,” he said. “You gotta have lunch pails – people going to work every day.” “We can’t import to make and export to sell,” he continued. “Natural resources made the state of Montana, and it’s the only thing we’ve got.” Fillmore agrees that attracting jobs to
Philipsburg is difficult. “We want to be cautious with what types of industry we attract,” she said. “We are protective of the environment.” Fillmore said in her opinion, the town needs to attract the cyberworker who can take advantage of the T1 line – the town’s high-speed internet connection – and work from home. County Commissioner Maureen Connor agreed that the T1 line should be taken advantage of. “I don’t see us ever being able to at-
tract manufacturing industry,” Fillmore said. “We are isolated and transportation is a problem.” Everyone seems to agree that Philipsburg needs jobs in more than tourism, although in 2005, out-of-state tourism supported 46,000 jobs in the state, which is a 41 percent increase from 1995.1 Also, mining and agriculturally based jobs are only 7 percent of Montana’s employment structure. Services and sales makes up 47 percent of Montana’s jobs. The lack of jobs also leads to another problem – an aging community.
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“The people who are drawn here are generally young retirees because we don’t have the industry to attract young families,” Fillmore said. “The population base is aging. And it’s not a bad thing that we attract young retirees. They make great volunteers.” But an aging community Doe’s mean a smaller employee pool and fewer students in school. Both Zane Murfitt and Esther McDonald said that in the 1960s, there were 140 students at the high school, which would be about 35 students per class. The class of 2008 is 11 students. And then there is the housing issue. Connor said that it is hard to find an affordable rental, which also contributes to the lack of small families. People simply can’t afford to stay. “It’s pretty expensive here,” she said. “The land is worth a lot. ... People are paying a lot more than they should for housing.” Along with the great need for employment, there is a great need for employees, which seems contradictory. Tony and Ruth Ann Marchi, who own the Doe Brothers Old Fashioned Soda Fountain, have a real problem finding summer employees. “Finding enough help continues to be a problem,” Ruth Ann said. “We try to find help locally, but can’t. We’re looking to bring in help from Colombia (South America).” Eventually things are going to have to even out, for the survival of the town. “Twenty-six dollars for a dinner in a two-bit town?” Esther McDonald asked. “How many people can afford that?”u
Jake Pergande, 16, helps out at The Copper Cauldron when Heidi Evans is in town to make candy. He is looking forward to working this summer because that he’s now 16, his hours won’t be as restricted by labor laws.
Williams extends the sale price on goods in Huffman’s Grocery. She said she has to make sure to to scan all the sale goods because if there is a sale tag and it rings up at regular price, the customers will make sure she hears about it.
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Philipsburg is the county seat for Granite County, and is therefore the home of the county courthouse where official county business is conducted. The county is a major employer in Philipsburg.
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‘A Small Community that Wouldn’t
Quit’
Philipsburg has overcome busts in the past, but some don’t know if the tourism-based economy can survive the current national economic situation. Only time and the residents’ dedication to the community will show the town’s durability.
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hilipsburg has experienced booms and busts since it was first founded, so what is there to guarantee that this tourism isn’t just another unpredictable spurt? Nothing. The town and its people will have to figure out how to make this type of economy work, or some other type if that comes along. Right now, this is a town in transition, and everyone has an opinion. “(The town has) come a long way,” Dale Siegford said. “It’s a lot better than it was, but there is still room for improvement.” In general, most people would like some
sort of change, or at least for the changes that have started to continue along that vein. Shirley Beck said she would like to see business improved year-round, not just in the summer, but that she Doe’sn’t want to see the town or the character change that much. Ruth Ann Marchi said she felt similarly. “I hope that Philipsburg grows to the point of being able to support our businesses, but not lose the flavor and character that is here now,” she said. Some people’s hopes are a little more simple. “I would like it so people could get
The Sayrs building’s storefront has this sign, and if you peak inside, you see heavy equipment.
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through the winter without getting anxious,” Claudette Dringle said. Beth Williams and Anne Fillmore both said they just wished there was someplace in town to buy socks. And Everett Miller said he all wanted was a drug store. Some businesses are also preparing for the future with plans to change or expand. Tony and Ruth Ann Marchi said they hope to put hotel rooms in their second floor, change the dinner menu and obtain a beer and liquor license. “We don’t want to become a bar, but we want to offer fine wines,” Tony said.
Tony said they are also thinking about buying the building next door to expand the dining room. “But that’s on the fence,” he said. “It’s way down the line. We want to focus on the hotel rooms.” Beck said that she and her business partner, Siegford, have ideas, but that there aren’t enough hours in the day for them to start another venture. Basically, businesses don’t want people to get bored because bored patrons have no incentive to return. “You’ve got to keep going with new stuff,” Tony said. “We don’t want to get stale with the public.” *** The future of Philipsburg is still unstable. Although industry experts maintain that the tourism industry is relatively immune to economic recessions because of the diversity of businesses that are involved in the industry,1 that could easily change with gas prices quickly approaching $3.75 per gallon in Montana. And some business people did express some
Mayor Anne Fillmore got into politics because her father taught her it’s not just enough to talk about doing something; you actually have to do something. Her office on Broadway is decorated to reflect her love of golf.
concern that rising gas prices would affect their business. “People are trying so hard to get people to come in and spend a little money,” Esther McDonald said, “but they don’t know if it’ll happen with the gas prices.” Some businesses don’t rely totally on travelers’ business to remain in the black, like The Sweet Palace, which Doe’s corporate gifting and wedding favors. But other businesses are very dependent on actual visitors – like the lodging establishments. With all the booms and busts that have happened in Philipsburg, it has shown – if not its economic stability – the fortitude of the residents who will not let the town fail. If history is any indicator, Philipsburg will be around for a while. “People here committed themselves to this area beyond timber buildings, power lines and boardwalks,” Beck said. “There is a spirit of opportunity. It is a chance to make a place for oneself and contribute to the community.” This hope and opportunity is what makes Philipsburg attractive. It is what makes this a boomtown surviving. u County Commissioner Maureen Connor has lived in Granite County for 15 years and has been a commissioner since 2007.
The Rotary Club raised the money to build this ice rick, two blocks south of Broadway, near the museum. They hope to generate more winter business by promoting the rink and hosting hockey tournaments. The club hopes the warming shed at the far end of the rink will be finished over the summer.
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Town seems to be made up of two groups of business owners – those who pack up for the winter...
...and those like The Sweet Palace that look for other opportunites to make money so the winter Doe’sn’t seem so harsh. These boxes are all the companies that The Sweet Palace Doe’s corporate gifting for.
Congressman Denny Rehberg came to the Granite County Courthouse as part of his promise to visit each of Montana’s counties at least once in each of his two-year terms. The residents present expressed concern over the state of the timber industry in the region and the water and sewage system that was not currently complying with EPA standards. “We are an awesome community and we are a can-do community,” Mayor Anne Fillmore said. “We are a historical town. Unfortunately, our infrastructure is just as historical.”
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The town hosts a Yule Night in an attempt to generate more winter business. The main attraction during the winter is skiing, although ice fishing at Georgetown Lake is also popular.
About the Author
Elizabeth Rauf was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She recieved her bachelor’s in history and Spanish from the University of Evansville (Indiana) in 2005. While there, she was heavily involved with the student newspaper, the Crescent, and the yearbook, the LinC. After she graduated, she realized that journalism was what she wanted to do with her life, so after a small stint in retail, she enrolled in the photojournalism program at the University of Montana (Missoula). She graduated in 2008 with her master’s. Rauf’s future is still up in the air, but she’s hoping to find a job at a Midwestern newspaper.
Photo taken April 2007
Photo courtesy of Kristine Paulsen © 2007
About the Project
As part of the Master’s program at the University of Montana, students are required to either write a thesis or do a professional project. Since it is a professional program, projects are encouraged. Each student has to create a substantial journalistic work. Most of the projects are based out of Montana. Because Rauf had traveled extensively all over the country with her family, and studied abroad twice, she was very interested in tourism-based economies. She had not heard of Philipsburg until Professor Dennis Swibold told her about it. After visiting, Rauf decided she liked the quaint town and it would suit her for a professional project.
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Colophon: This book was printed by Kinko’s on semi-glossy paper. All photos taken by Rauf were taken with a Canon 30D and adjusted in Adobe Photoshop CS2. All spot colors are sampled from the adjacent photo. All pages were created in InDesign CS2. The body font is Palatino 12 pt.; the cutlines are Optima, 10 pt.; headlines are Nueva and Handwriting - Dakota; pull quotes are Didot, 24 and 20 pt. Decorative caps are Handwriting - Dakota faded to 15 or 20 percent.
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Endnotes The Journey to Today 1. Neu, Clyde J., A Town Founded on Hope. p. 6. Getting the Word Out 1. Outdoor Advertisers Association of America, http:// www.oaaa.org
6. The Economic Review of the Travel Industry in Montana, 2006. Institute for Tourism and Resource Recreation. p. 12. 7. The Economic Review of the Travel Industry in Montana, 2006. Institute for Tourism and Resource Recreation. p. 9.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
lishing Company, 1985. p. 9. Voynick, p. 19 Voynick, p. 12 Voynick, p. 36 Voynick, p. 36 Themelis, Ted, “The Heat Treatment of Ruby and Sapphire.” Gemlab, Inc., 1992. p. xiv
Small Town Attraction 1. “Focus on Philipsburg: A Making it Work Montana Mining Town.” Modern Paydirt 1. The Economic Review of the University of Montana, 1991. 1. Berger, Aaron L. and Richard Travel Industry in Montana, p. 63. B Berg, “Scientific Communi2006. Institute for Tourism 2. Nickerson, Norma Polovitz, cations – The Silver Bow Sapand Resource Recreation. p. “Foundations of Tourism.” phire Occurrence, Montana: 14. Prentice Hall, 1996. p. 2-3. Evidence for a volcanic bed3. Nickerson, p. 2. rock source for Montana’s ‘A Small Community That 4. The Economic Review of the alluvial sapphire deposits.” Wouldn’t Quit’ Travel Industry in Montana, Society of Economic Geolo- 1. The Economic Review of the 2006. Institute for Tourism gists, Inc., 2006. Travel Industry in Montana, and Resource Recreation. pp. 2. Voynick, Stephen M., “Yogo: 2006. Institute for Tourism 24-25. The Great American Sapand Resource Recreation. p. 5. Nickerson, p. 3. phire.” Mountain Press Pub5.
Works Cited or Consulted “American Gem Corporation and Michael “Focus on Philipsburg.” University of Anthony Jewlers Announce Sales Agree- Montana, 1991. ment.” Thomson Gale Business Wire, Helena, Mont., http://findarticles.com/p/articles/ “Gem Profile 17: Montana Sapphires.” Aimi/M0EIN/is_1996_July_24/ai_18522321. res Jewlers, Morris Plains, NJ, http://www. airesjewlers.com/montana_sapphire.htm. Berger, Aaron L. and Richard B. Berg, “The Silver Bow Sapphire Occurrence, Montana: “Granite County Museum and Cultural Evidence for a Volcanic Bedrock Source for Center.” http://visitmt.com/categories/ Montana’s Alluvial Sapphire Deposits.” Sci- moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=3180 entific Communications, Economic Geology, vol. 101, pp. 679-684. Society of Economic “How the Highway Beautification Act BeGeologists, Inc., 2006. came a Law.” Federal Highway Administration, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastruc“Couple hopes renovated hotel will pro- ture/beauty/htm. mote Philipsburg.” Montana Lee NewspaLangley, Gary, “Montana Mining.” Monpers, Mick Holien, February 15, 2004. tana Mining Association and the Foundation for Resource Education. Dillon, Thale, “Montana Residents Define Tourism’s Role in the State.” Institute for Neu, Clyde J., “A Town Founded on Hope.” Tourism and Recreation Research at the Uni- Granite County Museum and Cultural Cenversity of Montana, Missoula, February 2000. ter, 1983. “The Economic Reivew of the Travel Industry in Montana, 2006 Biennial Edition.” The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana, Missoula, December 2006.
Nickerson, Norma P., “Foundations of Tourism.” Prentice Hall, Inc., 1996.
Fifter, Barbara, “Montana Mining Ghost Towns.” Farcountry Press, 2002.
“Montana: Big Sky Country – Montana’s Tourism and Recreation Industry Fast Facts.” http://travelmontana.mt.gov/faq/
“Montana: Big Sky Country – 2007-2008 Vacation Planner.” Travel Montana, 2007.
fast%20facts/tourismfastfacts07_updated. pdf “Montana’s Gold West Country, 2007 Travel Planner.” “Montana Promotion Division: Conditions for Tansportation Commission Support of Initiation of Limited Scenic/Historic Byway Program.” Montana Department of Commerce, http://travelmontana.state.mt.us/ shb/MDTConditions.shtm. “Montana Promotion Division: History of Efforts to Develop a Montana Scenic Byways Program 1965-2002.” Montana Department of Commerce, http://travelmontana.mt.gov/ shb.smtbp.shtm. “National Register of Historic Places.” http://www.nps.gov/nr/ “Philipsburg, Montana.” http://philipsburgmt.com/ Philipsburg Territory, Vol. XXIX, No. 1 2007/2008. “Philipsburg: A town in transition.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Kayley Mendenhall, August 15, 2004.
“Philipsburg subject of ‘Today Show’ feature.” Montana Standard, Vera Haffey, December 18, 2005. “Philipsburg wins sport as distinctive destination.” Montana Standard, Staff, April 7, 2006. “The Report on the Montana Tourism Industry.” Montana Promotion Division, Department of Commerce, January 2006. Rotheman, Hal K., “Daveil’s Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth-Century American West.” University Press of Kansas, 1998. “Sapphires.” United States Geological Survey, http:minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/ commodity/gemstones/sp14-95/sapphires. html Thayer, Tomas N. and Shar L. Murphy, “Montana History: Discovery Tomorrow Through Yesterday.” Montana Speaks, Inc., 1999. Themelis, Ted, :The Heat Treatment of Ruby and Sapphire.” Gemlab, Inc., 1992. Voynick, Stephen M., “Yogo: The Great American Sapphire.” Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1985.
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Interviews 10/1/07 – Tony Marchi, coowner of Doe Brothers’ Old Fashioned Soda Fountain – Shirley Beck, co-owner of Sweet Palace, Sapphire Gallery, etc.
– Beck – Beth Williams, resident – Marchi – Ruth Ann Marchi, co-owner of Doe Brothers Old Fashioned Soda Fountain
10/7/07 – Beck
3/14/08 – Dale Siegford, coowner of Sweet Palace, Sapphire Gallery, etc.
3/4/08 – Town Council Meeting 3/5/08 – Heidi Evans, candy cook
3/15/08 – Mike Miller, reporter for Philipsburg Mail 3/24/08
– Evans – Karyn Byhre Hansen, owner of The Inn at Philipsburg 3/24/08 – Williams 3/25/08 – Williams and family 3/26/08 – Claudette Dringle, co-owner of the Opera House – Anne Fillmore, mayor – Janice Gross, Chamber of Commerce presi-
dent 3/27/08 – Maureen Conner, Granite County commissioner – Q & A session with Congressman Denny Rehberg – Jim Jenner, former coowner of the Broadway Hotel – Rotary lucheon – Everett Miller, resident 3/28/08 – Zane Murfitt, Flint Creek Valley Bank
– Glenna Nelson, Rebecca Pasley, visitors – Ayme Swartz, Sapphire Gallery employee – Esther McDonald, museum volunteer 4/2/08 – Sue Jenner, owner of Broadway Hotel – Beck – Jerry Sullican, President of Flint Creek Valley Bank – Fillmore 4/19/08 –Terri Raugland, Flint Creek Valley Outfitters
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