534 - Dakota Block 200

This Gothic Revival Style commercial block was completed in 1883 and is one of few buildings that survived a devastating fire in 1898. The building was developed across three city lots, by three prominent men: the Reverend S.H. Thompson of the nearby Presbyterian church, Dr. Henry R. Porter, a surgeon who accompanied General Custer to the Battle of the Little Bighorn and survived, and Orland S. Goff a photographer at Fort Abraham Lincoln known for the famous studio portrait he made of Chief Sitting Bull. Though the easternmost bay of the historic building is missing—it was razed in the 1950s due to a damaging fire—and the parapet is no longer intact, it remains a wonderful and rare example of High-Style Gothic Revival architecture in Bismarck. Note the cast-iron columns, pointed-arch windows, and ornamental brick work.