Gleim Building
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Gleim Building | |
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| Location | 265 West Front Street, Missoula, Montana |
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| Coordinates | 46°52′20″N 113°59′50″W / 46.87222°N 113.99722°W |
| Built | 1893 |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 90000653[1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 30, 1990 |
The Gleim Building, 265 W. Front St., Missoula, Montana, was a brothel constructed in 1893 for Mary Gleim, a notorious madam who owned at least eight "female boarding houses". This building serves as an example of a vernacular adaptation of Romanesque architecture.[2]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[1][3]
Brothels were present along West Front Street but the number expanded considerably after the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway[4] and its construction crews in the 1880s. The building was built for Missoula's most prominent madam, Mary Gleim, in 1893[5] and reflects the impact railroads had on Missoula early in its history.[2] Gleim ran her brothel empire from this building.[6]
Gleim stopped running the brothel in 1903 but retained the freehold. The building's use as a brothel ended in 1916 when the city bowed to public pressure and closed the red-light district. Subsequent owners operated an automobile repair shop and a billiard parlor from the premises for several decades.[2][7] The building became an adult theater in the 1970s. By the 1980s the building had deteriorated considerably and was bought by architect James Hoffman who restored the building.[8]
The building has a plaque on the wall in tribute to Mary Gleim.[9]
Architecture
The building was built of brick as a precaution against fire, following the fire that devastated the area in 1872.[10]
Built in the vernacular adaptation of Romanesque architecture first made popular by Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson in the 1870s,[6] the building features brick corbelling, arched windows, checkerboard banding, and rusticated granite sills. The building's facade and its east and west sides have been restored to their original appearance.[2]
