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1965 T-Bird Classic Car & The Hotel Baxter - Bozeman, Montana

The Hotel Baxter, popularly called the Baxter or Baxter Hotel, is a seven-story hotel built in 1929 in the Main Street historic district of Bozeman, Montana. Designed in Art Deco style by architect Fred F. Willson, it opened for business on March 2, 1929. The grand opening party was held Saturday, March 16, 1929. The hotel is named after George Baxter, a prominent Gallatin County rancher who provided much of the funding. It originally contained 76 rooms, two bars, and restaurant facilities. An ornate lobby on the main floor includes a small water fountain. The mezzanine level features a large ballroom. Its upper floors today contain about 20 condominium-style residences, mostly one and two-bedroom apartments. Ted's Montana Grill and the Bacchus Pub are on the ground floor.

 

Unique features

 

Unique features of the Baxter building include a 32-foot high by 45-foot wide electric "Hotel Baxter" sign on the roof. Erected when the building was completed in 1929, it was intended to be seen from the top of mountain passes up to 70 miles away to "serve as a beacon for travelers." The red neon sign was nonfunctional for about 40 years, but was refurbished, repaired, and officially re-lit on January 10, 2013, in a ceremony, where U.S. Senator and part-time Bozeman resident Max Baucus called it "A crown jewel of Bozeman." However, a researcher at Montana State University has raised concerns about light pollution, generating some local controversy. The roof of the building also features a flashing blue light, which is turned on throughout the winter to alert local skiers when new snow is falling at the Bridger Bowl Ski Area. First installed in 1988, it is activated each time Bridger Bowl accumulates two inches of fresh snow, and remains on for 24 hours thereafter. Local skiers depend upon the beacon because the ski area can have a great deal of fresh powder snow, dubbed "cold smoke" by the locals, even when it is not snowing in Bozeman. For this reason, maintenance of the light is a priority for skiers and only once in 20 years was it out of operation for two days.

 

National Register of Historic Places listings in Gallatin County, Montana - 84002469

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Uploaded on December 7, 2021
Taken on July 5, 2021