💯 STORY CHALLENGE
Every Town Has History; You Just Have To Know Where To Look.
In Havre, Montana, it’s beneath the streets. (69)
I’m planning to drive to Shelby, Montana for the night, until the folks at the Wolf Point Café suggest I stop in Havre (pronounced Have-r) instead.
“Check out the underground,” they urge, “there’s no signs for it, but ask around.”
It’s early evening when I arrive in Havre. There’s a band playing in the park with a female bassist who is older than me. Cool.
The next morning, I find the office of the Havre Historical Underground. I join a group for a tour led by Kathy, a retired English and History teacher.
In January 1904, a fire was started by a couple of drunks intent on burning down the bar they’d been kicked out of earlier that day. The Chinook winds took hold and burned 4 blocks to the ground. No one died, but 60 businesses were lost. The hardwood floors survived as did the basements below, so business moved underground.
Kathy told tales of saloons, brothels, opium dens, meat markets and more, but the story…
