Montana

Arrival Of 2 New Businesses Means There’s More Than A Bar In Tiny Pony, Montana

Published

1 year ago

January 26, 2025

Arrival Of 2 New Businesses Means There’s More Than A Bar In Tiny Pony, Montana

PONY, Montana — The old joke goes something like this: “Bozeman is great, it’s only an hour from Montana.”

Cringey to some, all-too-true to others, this hackneyed one-liner springs from an understanding among Bozeman locals that life an hour outside the city is totally different, and in some ways, more authentically “Montanan.”

Exhibit A: Pony, Montana, the postcard-perfect collection of architectural relics an hour west of Bozeman. The snowcapped Tobacco Root Mountains rise in the near distance above the ambitiously named Broadway Avenue in the heart of downtown Pony, population 137.

In 1922, mining operations ceased around Pony and for the last several decades Broadway has been home to the Pony Bar, the local senior center and not much else.

But then this past summer, locals started to notice a slightly quickened pulse on Broadway.

A craft lighting and light fixtures outlet opened, and the brown paper covering the storefront windows at the old Isdell Mercantile and kept curious onlookers wondering what was afoot inside at 209 Broadway Ave.

“We were keeping it kind of top secret in here, because I wanted to surprise, and it got really fun to do,” said the building’s owner, Dan DeFrance.

The mercantile was the heart Pony when it boomed. Now the Isdell Merc aims to be the heart of its soul as a gathering spot, open for business as an event space.

Over the holidays, The Doors cover band Mojo Risin — its members met in Pony — played to a crowd not used to having more than one music venue on Broadway. The Pony Bar remains a treasured musical outpost, where patrons are known to pull the vent cover off the heating system and play it like a washboard.

Looking ahead, said DeFrance, there’s a wedding planned for the space, which is a bit warmer than before thanks to new insulation in the ceiling. Anyone who wants to rent the space can contact DeFrance through the new website he built using the same web software DeFrance teaches as a computer science professor at Montana State University.

DeFrance said that as long as he has 48 hours notice, heating the space with the wood stove that doubles as a pizza oven shouldn’t be a problem. But it does take a full day of well-stoked fires to heat up the place.

How It Came Together

“It started gaining momentum, I’d say in the last four or five years, people started getting interested in it when we started putting in glass windows. Then we repainted the sign out front,” said DeFrance. “My brother-in-law is a stonemason, so he was able to repair the damage. Stonework and brickwork on top. Then it just started getting noticed and people started getting excited about it. They get excited, and I get more excited. It starts this cycle of excitement.”

What is the Isdell Merc, exactly? Does it have a mission statement?

“The mission statement is to write a mission statement,” DeFrance told Cowboy State Daily back on Sept. 7, the Merc’s official grand opening. “For today, it was kind of just to open up the place. Get people interested.”

Since September, DeFrance’s family and friends continue to look for ways to use all the antiques stored in the Merc’s basement, including a cheese cutter from the 1800s.

Carl Pearson, who runs IronGlass Lighting across Broadway Avenue from the Merc, crafts glass and iron light fixtures that look like they were made in the 1800s.

“We call this Old World glass. We do it in the kiln,” said Pearson.

Turns out, Pearson is an early urban pioneer in downtown Pony.

“I bought the old Chrysler Dealership (in Pony) about 10 years ago,” he said.

Like DeFrance, Pearson has seen enthusiasm for renovating Pony’s historic buildings slowly grow.

“All of us are trying to revive it,” said Pearson.

Pearson is consulting old photos and plans to adorn his newly renovated IronGlass Lighting building with a stylish western facade. He also expects to team up with the owner of the Morris State Bank building, where he said a significant renovation is well underway.

Boom Times Of Old

There was a time when the Morris State Bank and the Isdell Mercantile were big businesses in Madison County.

According to Archives West, the Isdell Mercantile Co. was created in 1869 by N. J. Isdell, and its success along with Morris State Bank led the local Madisonian newspaper to call Pony the “metropolis of the Madison Valley.”

The Isdell Mercantile provided hardware, mining supplies, and various dry goods to the community, which once had a population over 1,000 in 1900. The business remained in family hands for decades, with Eli S. Adkins (Isdell’s son-in-law) serving as president when the company finally closed its doors in the early 1940s, according to a local website that documents the region’s historic sites.

DeFrance said Adkins sold the building to DeFrance’s grandmother sometime in the 1960s.

“And then, it just got filled with junk for several decades,” said DeFrance. “My dad was a builder, he was a contractor. So if he had leftover lumber or materials, it would go in here. Motorbikes, broken dishwashers, all goes in here, for decades.”

“It was kind of creepy to me,” said DeFrance, remembering time spent as a kid in the abandoned space. “There were no lights. This was boarded up.”

Part Of A Trend?

Today, the Isdell Merc joins other restored mercantile buildings across Montana from the Polebridge Merc outside Glacier National Park to the Virgelle Merc in the heart of Missouri River country near Fort Benton.

During one recent event, DeFrance said he met someone who owns an old building in the mostly abandoned town of Maudlow, Montana, who was inspired by the renovation work done in Pony.

By restoring Pony’s Merc, DeFrance put the Isdell back on the map, while finding a place for himself in his family’s history.

“My dad grew up here,” said DeFrance of Pony. “His dad grew up here. His dad grew up here. A lot of DeFrance guys grew up here, but I did not. But I grew up nearby and I traveled here often. And I’m traveling here more than ever now.”

In an interview with Cowboy State Daily on Thursday, DeFrance reflected on Pony’s contribution to the cultural landscape of Southwest Montana. He described it as a throwback location that provides something that’s harder to find in nearby Bozeman.

“The people came to Montana and then once they’re in Bozeman, they’re like, ‘Wait, where did Montana go?’” said DeFrance. “But you hit the road for a little bit and it’s definitely still Montana in these little towns. I think Pony is definitely, to me anyway, it’s the quintessential little Montana town.”

Contact David Madison at david@cowboystatedaily.com

Left, Dan DeFrance, a computer scientist and co-conspirator in the recent push to revitalize Pony’s historic buildings. Right, It takes a full day of stoking fires in the Merc’s wood stove to heat up the place. It also doubles as a pizza oven. (David Madison, Cowboy State Daily ; Courtesy Dan DeFrance)

David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.

Source link

Montana

Wind damage highlights insurance challenges for Montana homeowners

Published

41 minutes ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Wind damage highlights insurance challenges for Montana homeowners

It’s the talk of the town this week — powerful winds ripped the roof off Lincoln Elementary School on Sunday, leaving students, teachers, and residents in shock.

The incident has sparked concern among homeowners who are now worried about how such weather damage could impact their own homes—and what their insurance would cover.

According to Tauna Locatelli, owner of Advantage Insurance, most insurance policies have a set deductible for things like fire or theft, but wind and hail damage deductibles are often much higher, or even based on a percentage of a property’s value.

Quentin Shores reports – watch the video here:

Wind damage highlights insurance challenges for Montana homeowners

“Right now our industry is going through a really challenging time, especially when it comes to wind and hail in Montana. Several carriers are going to a standard ‘all peril’ deductible for everything other than wind and hail. So, it could be $1,000 for all but wind and hail, $2,500 wind and hail,” Locatelli explained.

A deductible is the amount homeowners must pay before insurance covers the rest. For wind and hail, that deductible can be steep.

“Some companies are going 1 or 2% of a coverage value, so that’s the building value. If it’s insured for $500,000 and you have a 1% deductible, you’re looking at a $5,000 deductible for wind and hail, which is what we get in Montana,” Locatelli said.

It’s important for homeowners to know their deductible—if repairs cost less than the deductible, insurance won’t pay anything.

Filing small claims can also impact your rates; Locatelli said, “Because if you have a $3,000 patch job claim and you have a $5,000 deductible, you really don’t want to file that because you’re not going to get anything in. That claim is going to follow your insurance record for five years.”

Age of property factors in as well. If you have an older roof, insurance may not fully cover its replacement.

“You’ve now lived half the roof life. Well, insurance is about indemnity and putting you back in the same condition you were in before the loss. You can’t put a 16-year-old roof on a home, so at 16 years, they’ll now pay 50% of that roof instead of 100% because it’s already lived half of its life. And then it drops each year as it goes by,” Locatelli added.

The bottom line: Keep your property maintained, review your insurance policy, and think carefully before filing a claim—especially as Montana faces more intense weather.

Source link

Montana

Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 11

Published

13 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 11

State

Zip Code

Country

Source link

Montana

Montana AG letter alleges Helena violates law banning ‘sanctuary cities’

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Montana AG letter alleges Helena violates law banning ‘sanctuary cities’

HELENA — On Monday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent a letter to the City of Helena claiming the municipality is not in compliance with the state’s law banning “sanctuary cities.” The letter comes just under a month after the State of Montana launched an investigation into a city resolution on Helena Police policy and Helena’s involvement in federal immigration enforcement.

In the letter, Knudsen laid out the ways he believes the city’s resolution violated state law. The attorney general gave Helena 15 days to respond or reverse the policy. If the city does not comply, his office will pursue legal action.

“Helena’s resolution appears to contain blatant violations of this law,” wrote Knudsen.

MTN News

On January 26, 2026, the City of Helena adopted a resolution clarifying when and how the Helena Police Department will cooperate with federal immigration officials. The vote was 4 to 1. The Helena commission seats and the mayor are elected in non-partisan races.

In the letter, Knudsen alleges the resolution established “a broad sanctuary city policy” that seeks to protect every illegal immigrant, regardless of whether the individual had committed a serious crime or not. The state further claims the resolution gives illegal immigrants “special privileges” in plea deals and establishes a “free-for-all policy” where a police officer can request the unmasking of Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers.

Knudsen has requested that the City of Helena, in their response, specifically describe in detail how the resolution complies with Montana law, provide emails and correspondence from city staff and the commission regarding the resolution.

Helena City manager Alana Lake told MTN in a statement: “The City of Helena is aware of the issues being raised by the Attorney General’s Office and is reviewing the matter. While we cannot discuss the details of a potential legal issue, the City is committed to transparency and compliance with the law. The City takes these matters seriously and will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities while remaining focused on serving our community.”

Passed in 2021, Montana House Bill 200 prohibits a state agency or local government from implementing any policy that prevents employees or departments from communicating with federal agencies regarding immigration or citizenship status for lawful purposes. It also states governments must comply with immigration detainer requests if they are lawfully made.

HB 200 was backed by Republicans and passed with only Republican votes. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law on March 31, 2021.

Passage of the resolution by the Helena City Commission has drawn ire from conservative voices in Montana politics and on the national level.

The resolution said the commission supported the Helena Police Department avoiding “committing its resources to federal action for which it has no authority,” such as entering into an agreement with the federal government to directly enforce immigration laws. Under federal law, immigration enforcement is conducted by federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. However, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, state and local governments can voluntarily enter into 287 (g) agreements with the federal government that allow them to enforce immigration laws.

The commission further supported HPD’s policy not to stop, detain, or arrest a person solely on suspected violations of immigration law, including assisting other agencies in an arrest based solely on immigration law.

DEEPER LOOK: Helena has seen a growing debate over ICE and local police involvement

In the resolution, the commission also supported an HPD officer, using their own discretion, requesting the identification and unmasking of a Department of Homeland Security Officer if the HPD officer “feels it will not be interfering with the actions of federal officers exercising their jurisdiction.”

“This adversarial relationship by local law enforcement toward federal officers itself undermines public safety and forces immigration officers to fear for their safety when they are simply carrying out their lawful duties,” wrote Knudsen.

The resolution further supports the City of Helena’s policy not to consider immigration consequences in a plea agreement with a defendant.

The commission also supports the City of Helena not disclosing any sensitive information about any person – including immigration status, sexual orientation, or social security number – except as required by law.

“This is a restriction that directly conflicts with Montana’s prohibition on sanctuary jurisdictions, specifically ‘sending to, receiving from, exchanging with, or maintaining for a federal, state, or local government entity information regarding a person’s citizenship or immigration status for a lawful purpose,’” the attorney general wrote.

If a government is found to be violating Montana’s law banning “sanctuary cities”, the state could fine them $10,000 every five days, prevent them from receiving new grants from the state, and have their projects with the state re-prioritized. A government in violation can avoid penalties by becoming compliant with the law within 14 days of being notified of the violation.

Read the full letter from the Montana Attorney General to the City of Helena:

Source link