Bureau of Reclamation’s Huntley Project Office in Ballantine, Montana, Named to the National Register of Historic Places

Written by: Stephen Major

Huntley Project OfficeYou might think that a building constructed in 1918 was already “historic,” but this summer the Bureau of Reclamation’s Huntley Project Office made it official by being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This unassuming building in the small rural community of Ballantine, Montana, packs a lot of history for its size. The Reclamation Act was passed into law in 1902 to fund irrigation projects for the arid lands of the American West.

This law enabled the creation of the U.S. Reclamation Service (now known as the Bureau of Reclamation). In 1918, the Huntley Project Office was built to serve as the administrative center for one of the earliest irrigation projects in the nation, and the third irrigation project in Montana.

The office is a simple utilitarian rectangular-shaped hipped roof building clad with drop siding, with a concrete vault extending from the rear elevation. The simple design with minimal decoration is in keeping with Reclamation’s practice of constructing basic, functional buildings with little or no ornamentation. This project office represents Reclamation’s essential functions of operation and maintenance; and harkens to a time when our newly constructed irrigation projects were transforming the West.

The Huntley Project Office was listed on the National Register on June 5, 2017, nearly one hundred years after its construction. The nomination was completed by Reclamation’s Montana Area Office to fulfill a commitment made under the National Historic Preservation Act. The office is still in active use, as it has been for the last century.

Inside of the Huntley Project Office

The Huntley Project Office

The Huntley Project Office

Published on October 18, 2017