Hotel Baxter: Bozeman's Art Deco Crown
Near Bozeman, Montana
When the Hotel Baxter opened in nineteen twenty-nine, it was the tallest building in Bozeman and the grandest hotel between Billings and Spokane. Its seven stories of brick and terra-cotta ornament rise in classic Art Deco style, with a rooftop sign that has anchored Main Street ever since. The Baxter was built to serve passengers on the Northern Pacific Railroad and the growing stream of tourists heading for Yellowstone, just ninety miles to the south.
It hosted Montana governors, rodeo champions, and the occasional Hollywood film crew scouting the Gallatin Valley. The hotel fell on hard times in the mid-twentieth century and declined over the decades, was converted to condominiums in the nineteen eighties, and saw its lobby and ballroom restored after two thousand four. Today the Baxter is a boutique hotel and recognized Bozeman landmark, its neon sign still blinking over Main Street.
