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Russ, from left, and Erin McBrien and Lila Redding pose Dec. 17 in the Oxford Bar with Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission awards presented in December.
Members of the Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Committee pose in the Oxford Bar Dec. 17 with Russ and Erin McBrien and Lila Redding after presenting them with 2024 Historic Preservation Awards for work McBriens did restoring ther residence at 602 Third Ave. and to the Rudyard Depot Museum, which Redding accepted.
Press release
The evening of Dec. 17, the Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) awarded their 2024 Preservation Awards in a small ceremony at the Oxford Sports Bar. Recognized were Russ and Erin McBrien for their work on the former Valadon Residence at 502 Third Avenue, and the Rudyard Depot Museum, represented by Lila Redding, for their railroad, agriculture, automobile and dinosaur museums. Each recipient was presented a certificate as well as, limited edition, Great Northern Railway Steam Engine #2504 commemorative ornaments which are sold annually by the HPC.
The McBrien's were asked how they felt about owning a historic home. "Being able to live in such a great house, and making it shine again has been an amazing adventure. We love Havre and look forward to writing the next chapter in the Valadon house history book." Originally built by trainmaster, Charles Griffin, in 1906 and later owned and renovated by Joe and Policeena Valadon, the Victorian, Queen Anne style residence is an anchor property in the Havre Historic Residential District.
Lila Redding of the Rudyard Museums and daughter of one of the founding members of the original Depot Museum shared some of the history of the community's efforts to share the history of the region. In 1995, a group of semi-retired farmers paid $1 for the Rudyard Depot building and spent $4500 moving it to its current location as the anchor of the museum complex. From that time to present that group and many other volunteers have built the complex into its current form which includes the original depot museum, a large agriculture exhibit structure, a former country school structure, a former implement business building on main street with a revolving classic car collection, as well as a comprehensive school history, regional newspaper archives, and comprehensive genealogy for families that lived in the communities from Kremlin to Joplin. The dinosaur museum is anticipating the arrival of a Natosaur fossil, which was found 75% complete in the region north of Rudyard and is being prepared for display by the anthropologists at MSU Bozeman.
The Preservation Award program is an annual program to recognize individuals, businesses and civic organizations which exhibit leadership in the preservation, promotion and curation of regional historic and prehistoric heritage. A partial list of past recipients can be found in the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum at 2 Fifth Avenue and on the HPC website: havrehillpreservation.org.
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