A Brief Timeline and Some Origin Stories
Locations
The MSLEC and State Library were housed at the University of Montana in Missoula from 1929 to the late 1950s. Rent-free locations on campus included Main Hall, Rankin Hall, Social Sciences Building, and a World War I barrack. A leased office on South Avenue was the last location in Missoula.
The image above is linked to the digitized version of the 1937 Sentinel Yearbook. Click on the image and a new browser tab will open up for you to page through the digital version.
In 1965, through the support of Governor Babcock, the MSLC moved to a converted warehouse at 930 East Lyndale Avenue in Helena. The next move was to 1515 East 6th Avenue in 1982 when the building now known as the Joseph P. Mazurek Building was completed.
The image above is linked to the Justice Under the Big Sky Collection in the Montana Memory Project. Click on the image and a new browser tab will open up for you to access the full collection. You can learn more about the building on the Historic Montana website.
A flood in July 2022 prompted the agency to move again to 1201 11th Avenue in November 2022.
