You're Old School Montana if... you still say Main Street, and it's been a walking mall since the '70s
1970s · Central Montana
Helena, 1970s
Old School Montana lists 1 place in Helena that is still open: Windbag Saloon & Grill (est. 1977). Helena is in Lewis and Clark County, in Central Montana.
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
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.
Still Old School in Helena
Drink
Windbag Saloon & Grill
On the Gulch since 1977, inside a building a lot older than that. Still where downtown Helena goes for a beer and a plate.
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 · 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.
Back Then · Remember This?
Remember This? Bert and Ernie's in Helena
For 48 years, "meet you at Bert and Ernie's" was all the directions anybody in downtown Helena needed. Last call on Last Chance Gulch came December 1, 2022.
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