Bozeman’s Cooper District Architectural & Historical Analysis

There’s nothing like the sound of Magpies gawking and the unlocking beeps of Subarus in the morning. Late May 2024, the Crab apples and lilacs are in full swing, it’s almost time for a second lawn mowing to chop down the dandelion bloom, as summer is trying to overcome the long lingering Spring, I decided to go on a run one afternoon to capture the character of Cooper Historical District (the South West end of downtown Bozeman). Enjoy this read where we will break down the history, price points, and character of this area.

May 26th 2024

Area/Map

This was the Strava photography run route

History/Historical Districts

The City of Bozeman’s Community Development department identifies and was approved for 10 different historical districts including 45 different addresses added to the historical register from the Gallatin Valley High School, Carnegie Library, to residential addresses. For this article, we are sticking with the Cooper District

Here is a map of Bozeman’s Registered Historical Districts, for today we laser focused on the Cooper Park Historic District Nomination 1986

The Cooper Park Historic District, a large early 20th century residential area, contains about 250 diverse, one to two story frame houses with even spacing and setbacks, along level, tree-lined streets. The Bungalow style is clearly predominant in the district, though the eclectic Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, promoted by early 20th century pattern books, are also well represented. Architectural features such as exposed rafter tails, truss brackets, bay and oriel windows, porches, and a variety of surface textures and roof types lend both a strong visual cohesion and a distinctly Progressive Era character to the district. – City of Bozeman Community Development Division

Most of the East/West roads running through this district were named after early influential settlers to Bozeman including: