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 The Club is divided into auxiliary groups: the Men’s Club, the Women’s Club, the Social Circle (no longer active), and the Junior Club.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.
This collection includes financial records, meeting minutes, maps, scrapbooks, constitutions, and a few other miscellaneous documents. Materials relate to the Orchard Homes Country Life Club, Men’s Club, Social Circle, and Women’s Club business, and include organizational records, clippings and photos, and history. The bulk of the collection includes materials regarding the Orchard Homes Country Life Club and the Orchard Homes Country Life Women’s Club; materials regarding the Orchard Homes Country Life Men’s Club and Orchard Homes Country Life Social Circle are limited.
This collection is divided into four series:
Series I: Orchard Homes Country Life Club, 2.6 linear feet, 1906-2017
Series II: Orchard Homes Country Life Women’s Club, 5.1 linear feet, 1922-1994
Series III: Orchard Homes Country Life Social Circle, 0.4 linear feet, 1934-1971
Series IV: Orchard Homes Country Life Men’s Club, 0.1 linear feet, 1943-1959
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright transferred to The University of Montana
[Name of document or photograph number], Orchard Homes Country Life Club Records, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
Materials were donated to The Historical Museum of Fort Missoula by the Orchard Homes Country Life Club in 2006. In August of 2006 the Museum transferred the collection to the Archives at The University of Montana.
This collection was donated by the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula in 2011.
The bulk of the material was received in bound volumes. These volumes were maintained intact but were assigned volume numbers to facilitate access. Loose materials found in various volumes have been foldered and listed in the container list.
In 2024, accession 2018-231 was processed into the collection.
The following publications directly relate to the history of Orchard Homes:
Archives and Special Collections holds two oral history interviews in OH 377 about the Orchard Homes area.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
This series contains records for the Orchard Homes Country Life Club including their constitution, financial records, meeting minutes, membership ledgers, and a promotional pamphlet.
This series contains records from the Orchard Homes Country Life Women’s club which includes ceremonial practices, a revised club constitution, club facts, scrapbooks containing clippings and photos and the Community Improvement Projects of 1970- 1982, a draft for a paper on the history of the women’s club, financial documents, meeting minutes, member attendance, and proposed bylaws from 1935-1994. This series also includes a miscellaneous folder dated 1981-1983 that includes two letters of resignations, a letter from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs/Federation of Women’s Clubs of Montana District Board Meetings, and a “Remember When” pamphlet.
This series contains the meeting minutes of the Orchard Homes Country Life Social Circle from 1934-1971. The Social Circle assisted the Orchard Homes County Club in many ways including putting on dinners and luncheons, providing hostesses and meals for meetings, and sending cards and gifts for club members who were ill.
This series contains records for the Orchard Homes Country Life Club including their constitution, financial records, meeting minutes, membership ledgers, and a promotional pamphlet.
Includes some miscellaneous meeting minutes