Teton County, MT Message Board

1/24/63 Zion Construction to build brick building between Roxy Theatre and Taylor Motor Co. for new Teton Furniture store. Parkway Cafe opened. Cherry's Meat Market closes. Henry Bouma sold Choteau House to Robert Frizell. Choteau to get direct long-distance dialing later in year.

2/7/63 Temporary bar hours revert back to midnight from 2 a.m. Wenzel and Co. asked to draw master plan for airport. Chinook wind raised the temperature from -16 to 51 degrees between Saturday and Sunday, melting eight inches of snow, the most effective Chinook since 1912, said an old timer. January said to be the coldest month in many years, below zero for 16 nights, lowest temp -31 on Jan. 22.

2/14/63 Monarch Lumber building, built in 1912, the former St. Anthony and Dakota yard, demolished to make room for Teton Furniture.

2/28/60 Choteau Volunteer Fire Dept. approved a plan to extend coverage to 91 homes outside the city limits. Petition set in motion, (4/11/63) Present aldermen, Leonard Sheble, Carl Field, George Henderson and Fred Barribal. D.P. Fabrick, incumbent mayor. Bob Gronberg city treasurer; William Irwin, police magistrate.

3/14/63 Second building, a hardware store with upstairs restaurant to be built next to Monarch lot, valued at $50,000. Both buildings are the first extensive construction on Main in a number of years. Lots had been dormant since Knudtzen bought them in 1958. Countywide oral Sabin vaccine campaign for polio, 25 cents a dose, three for kids and two for adults.

3/21/63 Seventh-day Adventist church to be built.

3/28/63 First four-color page advertisement in Acantha, for Massey Ferguson tractors.

4/4/63 City election, Jack Rogers and Fred Barribal Ward 2; Leonard Sheble and Bill McCauley Ward 1. Fabrick returned as mayor for a fourth term, Bob Gronberg as city treasurer, William Irvin, police magistrate. Amending-zoning referendum passed.

5/2/63 Bob Amick assesses the state and fate of Choteau.

5/23/63 Airport improvements move ahead.

6/6/63 Dr. L.S. Crary, prominent doctor, dies of heart disease.

6/27/63 Choteau gets a zip code. County commissioners don't like airport expansion idea.

7/4/63 Chamber does not like new campground to east of Spring creek, wants area west of creek reopened for camping. Council refuses action to extend bar hours to 2 a.m.

7/18/63 Teton Furniture grand opening. Choteau Appreciation Day sponsored by chamber, serves 1,000 people a free lunch, among other things.

8/1/63 The Villager and Tree Top Restaurant opens, owners, John Davison and Milton McNea, ( next to Teton Lumber.)

8/22/63 Lee's grocery expands.

9/12/63 Blaze razes Gallatin Valley grain elevator, same site of one that burned in July 1953.

10/3/63 New federal $30,000 office building to house three offices. Jake and Harry Luinstra builders, located between Wier building and Western Star Motel. (Now New Song Church.) Log Cabin Drive-In changed hands, as did Henneford's “V” store.

10/10/63 Rats discovered at city dump, and search for new dumpsite moved forward. City bought land by city water plant for $1,200 from Milwaukee Road after threatening condemnation of negotiations failed. Leo Murphy city attorney; Maurice Black, police chief.

10/24/63 County commissioners expand Choteau fire protection district to include two miles outside Choteau city boundary. Jack Sangray, city public works manager. Rats killed appeared to be Columbia gophers. Speed buffer zones established on U.S. 89 north and south of town to gradually reduce the speed limit from 55 to 25 mph.

11/7/63 Council approves 2 a.m. bar closing hour from midnight, ending a two-year controversy.

11/14/63 Choteau House sold, to become a bar, steakhouse. Ownership changed from R.C. McDaniels to Herbert Owens. Contained Choteau Bar, Joe's Barber shop, Choteau Shoe repair and Penguin Cafe. Petition filed in opposition to 2 a.m. bar closing hours, forcing a delay in the change from midnight and calling for a election vote on the ordinance months later. FHA moves from Fairfield to Choteau into the new federal building under construction.

11/28/63 Assassination of Kennedy headlined, 750 people attend memorial in Choteau high school gym. H & T Store opens, the former Henneford store.

12/19/63 Firemen's annual ball at the pavilion Dec. 31 set.

Photographs
8-8-63 two pics of Villager/tree top.
9-12-63 Grain elevator burns.
11-28-63 flag at half mast on Main Ave. for Kennedy.