As the tour guide explains the reasons for the opaque blue skylights located in the sidewalk above you and the remnants of window frames in the building beside you, your attention turns to the recreation of the Holland and Son Mercantile.

The old cash register and coffee grinder on the counter were common sites in mercantile businesses at the turn of the 20th Century.  In Havre the first mercantile was located in the Fort Trader’s Building at Fort Assinniboine, but as the railroad snaked its way across the Hi-Line of Montana during the 1890s, a new market was created.  Homesteaders and ranchers were coming west looking for land and opportunity and the construction of the railroad also brought new residents to the isolated little community on the Northern Plains.             The new residents needed all the essentials that a resident anywhere would need.  Tobacco, coffee,