Centennial celebration coming to Troy
When the first non-native people started to inhabit the area now called Troy, it is doubtful they considered they were making history. Most were just trying to make a living.
As the City of Troy plans to celebrate its 100 years of incorporation, residents of the resilient hamlet tucked in the corner of the great state of Montana should take a minute to realize they are part of a long history still in the making.
“We are focusing on the actual birthday time, so the big event will be the 11th, 12th and 13th of September,” said event organizer Jeni Evans. “It’s a three-day celebration with activities going on throughout the town.”
Troy Council minutes from 1915 give a glimpse of the days around the time of incorporation.
The campaign to vote on Troy’s incorporation took off in the summer of 1915. At a special session of the Lincoln County Commissioners on April 5, 1915,
a petition for incorporation was filed with the county clerk and recorder, Louis G. Klenck, with a sufficient number of supporting names and giving a complete description of the territory to be included.
Five days later, census taker George Davis filed a report containing the names of 320 residents within the area to be incorporated and on April 12 the commissioners ordered for the election of incorporation to take place.
Notices of the election were published for five consecutive weeks in the weekly newspaper, The Troy Echo, and postings of the measure were placed at the city jail, where polling was to take place, the post office, Callow’s Store, D.T. Wood & Sons Store and the Windsor Hotel.
At 8.m. on June 21, 1915, polls opened, and at 6 p.m. voting was closed. Of the 85 votes cast, 75 for and 10 against. The City of Troy was then incorporated as a municipal corporation.
An election for Troy’s mayor and council followed on Sept. 2, 1915, and the first town council meeting was held on Sept. 9, 1915, the date the 100-year celebration roughly coincides with.
Receiving 47 votes from the two wards contained in Troy, Henry D. Whiting was elected as the first mayor of Troy. R.E. Clay and F.B. Callow were elected as councilmen of the first ward and Henry E. Weidner was elected as councilman from the second ward. Their job was to lay the ground work for how the city would operate and be managed.
During the first council meeting four ordinances were passed by unanimous decision. They dealt with setting up a framework for how ordinances would be passed, defining the boundaries of the city, creating a tax levy on properties and for the creation of a town seal.
Also during the inaugural council meeting a resolution to levy a tax of nine mills on property within city limits for fire protection services was passed and the town clerk was directed to notify the County Treasurer to collect for said services.
Whiting knew firsthand the need for a fire department having lost a building that housed several businesses and services during an August 26, 1906 fire. The town ordered its first chemical fire engine from the Prospect Manufacturing Co. of Ohio in late 1914.
The Troy Volunteer Fire Department officially became active with the acceptance of their petition by the County Commissioners in March, making the department older than the city itself by a couple of months.
The kickoff for the 100-year festivities will begin on the night of Friday, Sept. 11, during the farmers market. “There will be live music and a typewriter where people can go and sit and write their stories about old-time Troy and things they know about and memories they have,” Evans said.
Following the farmers market a dinner and live music will be offered at the Silver Spur. Other events will include a barbecue at the Big Sky Café on Saturday and an ice cream social at Main Street Perk on Sunday
“What we’re trying to do is get all of the businesses involved,” she said. “We’re trying to push these events back to the businesses so we can help coordinate for the weekend.”
A centennial poster contest is currently being sponsored by Kootenai Drug at the elementary school and First Montana Bank will host a large birthday cake on the 4th of July.
Following the inaugural council meeting, the council convened over the next several Wednesdays to approve the purchase of books and supplies needed for the clerk and recorder, appoint city and committee personnel, set up police boundaries and clarify the process for sentencing people in the court system.
Wages for several employees were set during the Sept. 15, 1915, meeting and give a perspective as to how much city workers made during that time. The salary for the town clerk and police magistrate was set at $100 per year and the town Marshall earned $15 per month.
Troy Mayor Darren Coldwell said the foundation for managing the city was laid by the pioneers of the city government. “The guys and gals that came before me have done a lot of the heavy lifting. So for me it’s not about being stricter or tougher, it’s about making improvements,” he said.
“A guy should be pretty reserved when creating new laws and ordinances,” Coldwell said. “Unless they’re going to be beneficial for people today as well as 30 to 40 years down the road.”
Coldwell has spent time looking back at old resolutions and ordinances of Troy and he respects the people behind them. “You’ve got to appreciate what they were going through when they came up with their ideas,” he said.
To Coldwell, reaching the 100-year mark is a noteworthy accomplishment in itself for the town. “I hope we can continue to grow and build on the success we’ve had to this point,” Coldwell said.
For that to happen, Coldwell said the town has to find ways to recruit people and businesses to help create an atmosphere where people want to join the community.
As for the September celebrations, Coldwell is excited for the event. “I think Jeni Evans and her team have done a great job,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a good social event for the city.”
Evan’s right hand for coordinating the jubilee is Angie Huisentruit and a committee has been formed to help with preparation. Evans said she’s getting a lot of positive response from the community.
“We don’t need a huge planning team the way we have it set up,” Evans said. “We are just telling businesses to do what they want to do and just run it back through us and we’ll help market it for you.”
One of the major sponsors of the event is the Silver Spur and manager of the establishment Tina Stone. “We’re pretty community oriented, we like to do a lot of things for the community and different charities,” Stone said. “Anything each business can do to help bring people to the community of course is always good, everybody wins.”
Stone is a third generation resident of Troy. She’s lived in town her entire life, as did her father and her father’s dad. Stone said Troy’s 100th birthday is an amazing milestone for the community.
“There’s been a lot of changes, a lot of things going on,” Stone said. “But Troy has still always been able to maintain a little sanctuary. With all the economic ups and downs in the community, it’s always been able to hold its own. Even in thin times and thick times its always been able to persevere by the people pulling together.”