From Schoolhouse to Playhouse:
A Brief History of the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse, 1894-Now
You might think of a schoolhouse of this time as being a one-room wooden building, but the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse was a two-story building constructed from locally-made bricks.
Image: Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum, 01465
The schoolhouse was located on the west side of the Bitterroot River near a bridge that connected the town of Canyon Creek to the town of Hamilton, Montana.
Image: Courtesy of Dr. Marshall Bloom
In April 1921, the citizens of the Hamilton and Canyon Creek school districts voted to become one school district. Canyon Creek residents had worked for the consolidation, and Hamilton citizens enthusiastically agreed at the voting booth. The next school year would begin in Hamilton, and the schoolhouse would be empty.
In this undated photograph, students pose with their teachers on the steps of the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse in Montana. In the fall of 1921, students would have to cross the bridge over the Bitterroot River to attend school in the town of Hamilton, abandoning their old brick school.
Image: 2011-F077-003 Ravalli County Museum Or RML might have
The schoolhouse was not empty for long. In August 1921, it was announced that the laboratory investigating Rocky Mountain spotted fever would lease the building from the school district. The laboratory would move from its log cabin in Victor, Montana, to the schoolhouse in September 1921.
The schoolhouse turned laboratory, circa 1921. Notice the U.S. Public Health Service Laboratory sign. This photo was taken before a fence and animal cages were built.
Image: Montana Memories, 196
Dr. William Jellison’s museum exhibits featured science, Native American artifacts, natural science, local artists, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jellison was an entomologist at Rocky Mountain Laboratories who saved a good deal of its history.
Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 2715
It wasn’t until August 1995 that the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse began its fourth life—this time as a playhouse for the theater group called The Hamilton Players, who had bought the building from the Jellison family. But the passage of time had done its damage, and the upper floor and attic had to be taken down. Volunteers helped to renovate the building, including a detachment of U.S. Navy SeaBees (the Navy’s construction battalions).
Now you can see a show where children once learned, scientists once produced a life-saving vaccine, and a museum once educated visitors. [link to Hamilton Players].
The former schoolhouse became a one-story building. While the upper floors had to be taken down, the Hamilton Players eventually added a lobby, office, Green Room, and back stage.
Image: Courtesy of photographer Jon Rounhaus