What Is the Missoula Mercantile?
Today, the Missoula Mercantile is built into an apartment complex, and its historic core is the Basal restaurant!
What Makes It Historical?
Because of its location in the middle of 5 river valleys and its spot on the Mullan Road, the Missoula area was primed for commerce in the late 1800s! Beginning as the Bonner and Welch Company in 1866, and evolving into the Missoula Mercantile around 1876, the building we see today wasn’t constructed until 1882, a year after the Mercantile signed a contract with the Northern Pacific Railroad to supply all their construction materials!
To better show how this contract changed the course of the Mercantile’s future, their total trade in 1880 was $180,000. Within ten years, that number had risen to $1.5 million and was, by the turn of the century, the largest mercantile enterprise between Seattle and Minneapolis! It was Missoula’s main one-stop shop all the way until 2010 when Macy’s, which had bought the location, shut it down. It sat empty for 7 years but is now part of a huge, multi-use complex! The original brick building and its faded mural still make up a corner of this complex!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the Montana Historical Society!
- Donate to the Montana Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
114 N Higgins Ave
Missoula, MT 59802
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Whenever the mood strikes you!