HELENA | Montana's capital city

Thundertubs · #1 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 1:17 AM**

Helena is a city of 28,000, and home to the Montana State Capitol.

Lonely road

It was really sunny and hard to take photos. Oh well.

The Cathedral of Saint Helena was erected in 1908

It's hard not to love the late dusk sky in a small western city

The Montana statehouse was completed in 1902, with two wings added by 1912

The original plan for the Montana state capitol was deemed to expensive, and scrapped for a different design. The original expensive plan went on to be built as the Arkansas statehouse in Little Rock.

view north from upstairs

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***Montanamania 2012***

Nature + smaller cities | Butte | Billings

LAsam · #2 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 1:24 AM**

Very nice! I can't recall ever seeing Helena on SSP before. Looks like a good place to go for some peace and quiet.

AviationGuy · #3 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 4:31 AM**

I have some friends who have lived in Helena for many years and love the city. It's extremely conservative and they're not, but it doesn't bother them. They just like the city and the surrounding mountains. Beautiful place.

Phil McAvity · #4 Posted: **Jul 20, 2012, 6:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAsam

Looks like a good place to go for some peace and quiet.

How could you say that?!?!? Looks pretty exciting to me.

Kingofthehill · #5 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 4:58 AM**

Helena is a gem. It is impressive to see such levels of urbanity so far removed from everything else.

Buckeye Native 001 · #6 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 5:23 AM**

Awesome

A buddy of mine from college lived there before moving to Lincoln, NB. He's hell-bent on moving back. I can see why.

xzmattzx · #7 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 6:03 AM**

Nice pictures. Do you happen to know why the the little cross at the top of the capitol dome is turned slightly off-centered compared to the lower dome and the wings? That seems a little strange.

arkitekte · #8 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 6:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Nice pictures. Do you happen to know why the the little cross at the top of the capitol dome is turned slightly off-centered compared to the lower dome and the wings? That seems a little strange.

Maybe to be true to the Cardinal Directions. Just a guess though.

Anyways, nice set Thundertubs. Some real architectural gems and those hills look promising.

ColDayMan · #9 Posted: **Jul 15, 2012, 6:19 AM**

It's like Uniontown, Pennsylvania, though near actual mountains. Great stuff.

Nightsky · #10 Posted: **Jul 17, 2012, 4:50 PM**

Nice to see, rare to see.

Surrealplaces · #11 Posted: **Jul 17, 2012, 6:32 PM**

Nice to see places not often seen. I love that lit up church, I remember seeing that when driving through Helena one night.

Evergrey · #12 Posted: **Jul 18, 2012, 3:09 AM**

It's so cool that you're covering Montana, 'Tubs.

Those small Montana cities have wonderful Rust Belt-esque built environments.

kcexpress69 · #13 Posted: **Jul 20, 2012, 2:08 AM**

Nice pictures, Thundertubs!!

I don't believe I have ever see this place, let alone visit!!

Centropolis · #14 Posted: **Jul 20, 2012, 5:46 PM**

Awesome. The look of the city immediately brought to mind St. Joseph, MO for some reason.

Austinlee · #15 Posted: **Jul 20, 2012, 7:44 PM**

Yeah, the built environment looks like any number of small towns throughout PA, OH or NY.

beyondtheforest · #16 Posted: **Jul 24, 2012, 7:13 AM**

The thing with Montana's older cities, like Helena and Butte, is they seem a bit more vibrant and well-preserved than comparable cities in WV, PA, and Ohio. Places like Johnstown, Oil City, and Steubenville are just dead in comparison.