Archives West Finding Aid

In 1900, Samuel Dinsmore and R.M. Cobbin purchased 640 acres of what is now the area near 3rd Street and Reserve Street in Missoula, Montana. They subdivided this area, known as Orchard Homes, into five to ten acre properties. Then they sold the properties for one hundred to three hundred dollars.

In 1906, volunteer labor using donated materials constructed a public building on land owned by W.H. Warren in the Orchard Homes area. Church services were held in the building from 1906-1910. The youth of Orchard Homes formed the Orchard Liberty Society to function as a form of entertainment. The Orchard Liberty Society’s meetings were held in an old log cabin owned by Edward Miller. This cabin was called the Onion House.

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt was worried that rural life was at risk and formed the Commission on Country Life. This commission started the Country Life Movement which encouraged efforts to make country life more attractive. In 1910, religious services were no longer held at the public building erected in 1906. Also, the Onion House was now too small to hold the Liberty Society meetings. John P. Irving of the Liberty Society petitioned for the public building to become the new meeting house, and to join Roosevelt’s Country Life Movement.

In 1911, the Liberty Society was incorporated as the Orchard Homes Country Life Club with the purposes of providing a community center, mutual welfare, and a better rural environment for its members. The Club is divided into auxiliary groups: the Men’s Club, the Women’s Club, the Social Circle (no longer active), and the Junior Club. Each of these divisions took on various community improvement projects. For example, the Men’s Club started the volunteer fire department. The Women’s club was founded on January 17, 1912 to assist the club financially, socially, intellectually, and culturally. They participated in many charitable events and made appearances in the Montana Legislature advocating for Women’s Suffrage and other issues. The Social Circle was made up of women. They assisted the Orchard Homes Country Life Club in whatever ways were needed. Their duties included providing hostesses and meals for the Orchard Homes Country Life meetings, raising money for the club, assisting with the preparation of Market Day, sending cards and gifts to the club members that were ill, and putting on various dinners and luncheons. The Junior Club offered opportunities for the youth of Orchard Homes to get involved in community service projects. Through these many divisions, the Orchard Homes Country Life Club participated in a wide variety of community improvement projects. The club celebrated its centennial in 2011.