Museum at Central School - Kalispell

In 1999, the Northwest Montana Historical Society leased the renovated 1894 Central School building - one of the first stone and brick buildings in the Flathead Valley. One of the few lasting examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture which still retains its original appearance.

Now operated as the Museum at Central School, this elegant facility features exhibits that illuminate local Northwest Montana history. Exhibits include Northwest Native American Culture, Montana pioneer Frank Bird Linderman, the Northwest Montana timber industry, History of Flathead Valley, Early Kalispell, and a display of photographs and text on the turn-of-the-century community of Demersville.

The Museum offers tours, programs on local history, a gift shop featuring unique Made-in-Montana merchandise, books on Montana history, and performance and meeting rooms for rent.

Ongoing: Western Native American Culture Exhibit at the Museum at Central School. Opened in January 2005, this authentic collection of rare and diverse Native American artifacts reveals much about the Golden Age of the Indian from 1750 to 1875. The exhibit features tools and weapons of bone and stone, beaded items, clothing old and new of hide, trade cloth and muslin, toys of Indian children, and a full size Indian tipi. This is an Indian-based exhibit of unusual authenticity not to be missed.

New exhibits

History of the Flathead Valley - covering early settlers, methods of transportation and reasons for early development

Wild Montana - looking at the flora and fauna of northwest Montana