You're Old School Montana if... somebody in your family has initials carved into a booth at the candy shop downtown
1950s · Central Montana
Helena, 1950s
The capital city, and a town with a much longer memory than any legislature.
Before 1950 · 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 2010s
Memories from Helena
Back Then in Helena
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Still Old School in Helena
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More like this
Back Then · Still Old School Stories
Still Old School: The Parrot in Helena
The Parrot has made candy by hand on Last Chance Gulch since 1922. In 2025 the candy apprentice who started in 2018 bought the place, and she'd like to keep it exactly like this.
Back Then · Then & Now
Then & Now: Last Chance Gulch and the Walking Mall
Between 1973 and 1977, Helena took the cars off Main Street and put in a fake stream. Most towns that built a walking mall tore it out later. Helena didn't.
Back Then · Remember This?
Remember This? Frontier Town on MacDonald Pass
Just below the summit of MacDonald Pass, John Quigley spent more than 30 years building a log-and-stone town by hand. The bar alone used up a whole Douglas fir.
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