Wilson House (Alberton, Montana)


The Wilson House in Alberton, Montana, located at 114 Adams St., was built in 1914. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
It is a one-and-a-half-story Craftsman-style house which was first owned by railroad conductor Clarence E. Wilson and his wife Catherine. Its NRHP nomination explains its significance:
Built during the period of Alberton's founding and early years of development, the Wilson House is an important component of the residential fabric of this community due to the high level of historic architectural integrity this modest home continues to possess. As an excellent example of a common pattern book type house with simple Craftsman style detailing, the house stands as a significant reminder of the first decade of the community's history when the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railway shops were in full operation and employing 100 to 150 workers. The architecturally distinctive features of the Wilson House include the horizontal emphasis of the design achieved by the broad, overhanging roof with brackets, clapboard siding, the wide hip-roofed dormer and the parallel orientation of the building itself. The engaged, "cut-away" corner porch was common to the least costly pattern book houses of the period and it is very unusual for this feature to remain intact and unenclosed in the context of Alberton.