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Photo, Print, Drawing Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 900 Block of South Fourth Street, Hamilton, Ravalli County, MT Rocky Mountain Laboratory

[ Photos from Survey HABS MT-101  ]

More Resources

[ Data Pages from Survey HABS MT-101  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS MT-101  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 900 Block of South Fourth Street, Hamilton, Ravalli County, MT

Other Title

  • Rocky Mountain Laboratory

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Shanley & Baker
  • Simon, Louis A
  • Cox, Harold
  • Shanley, George H
  • Baker, Charles H
  • Melick, Neal A
  • Erlich-Rominger Architects
  • Architectural Resources Group, contractor
  • Huppert, Ann, field team
  • Coffee, Chris, field team
  • Judd, Bruce D, photographer
  • Ash, John, photographer
  • Maley, Bridget, historian

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  laboratories
  • -  medicine
  • -  research
  • -  diseases
  • -  Montana -- Ravalli County -- Hamilton

Latitude / Longitude

  • 46.237761,-114.159218

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Rocky Mountain Laboratories are comprised of over twenty buildings with functions ranging from laboratory work to living spaces to animal shelters. The facility began as a major research center concerning Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. In 1927, the Montana legislature approved funding for construction of the laboratory, which replaced a smaller facility at the former Lost Horse Creek schoolhouse. The Great Falls firm of Shanley and Baker constructed the new building located at the edge of town in Hamilton. Initially, there was opposition to the construction of a full-scale laboratory as residents feared that ticks would escape from the research laboratory and infect townspeople with the disease. To prevent this from occurring, a tick moat was constructed around the new buildings. The federal government purchased the laboratory in 1932. The facility came under the direction of the Public Health Service and then in 1937 became a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The facility was expanded in the 1930s. During World War II, the facility served as a production center for vaccines for overseas troops. Vaccines for typhus and yellow fever were the most widely produced with the laboratory distributing 3,360,000 doses as a peak period in 1945. By the 1990s, the facility was the NIH's only western center. Research continued about AIDS, rabies, and other infectious diseases.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N299
  • -  Survey number: HABS MT-101
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1927 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1938-1940 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 88001274

Medium

  • Photo(s): 9
  • Data Page(s): 17
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS MONT,41-HAM,2-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • mt0320

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS MONT,41-HAM,2-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

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    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
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  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, National Institutes Of Health, Shanley & Baker, Louis A Simon, Harold Cox, George H Shanley, Charles H Baker, et al., Judd, Bruce D, and John Ash, photographer. Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 900 Block of South Fourth Street, Hamilton, Ravalli County, MT. Montana Ravalli County Hamilton, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/mt0320/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., National Institutes Of Health, Shanley & Baker, Simon, L. A., Cox, H., Shanley, G. H. [...] Maley, B., Judd, B. D. & Ash, J., photographer. (1933) Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 900 Block of South Fourth Street, Hamilton, Ravalli County, MT. Montana Ravalli County Hamilton, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/mt0320/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Judd, Bruce D, and John Ash. Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 900 Block of South Fourth Street, Hamilton, Ravalli County, MT. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/mt0320/>.