The new owners of Frontier Town west of Helena have some big plans - watch:
The doors to Frontier Town have been closed to the public for decades, but that could soon change. The site of the once-bustling tourist attraction atop the Continental Divide near Helena has new owners.
The Hays family recently bought the Frontier Town property and has a new vision for the replica Old West town.
“This is one of those properties where you have to be a little bit crazy, and then also know a little bit about construction,” Kirby Hays said. “Luckily, I’m both of those, me and my family are both of those.”
A little history—John Quigley started building Frontier Town in the late 1940s. According to a brochure from 1964, as many as 2,000 people would visit the town in a day.
“Ultimately, I think he wanted a place where people could come together, and have a good time, and make some priceless memories,” Taegan Walker said of her grandfather’s vision.
Frontier Town - what it used to be:
Walker still lives in the Helena area, and she has cherished memories of the town her grandfather built.
“I think, especially as a little girl growing up in that time, I was so incredibly lucky to have those experiences,” Walker said. “I think that it has really shaped who I am.”
Frontier Town—its entrance towers, main street, chapel, and famous bar—it was all designed and hand-built by Quigley.
“He was every bit as master carpenter,” Hays said. “The integrity of the buildings—they’ve stood the test of time.”
Hays is a builder and has experience fixing up older properties. He said he hopes to get Frontier Town open to the public again, but there is a lot to do between now and when that could happen.
“We’ll do a full survey and everything and hold up what we have against what current code requirements are,” he said. “We’ll see what it’s going to take to fill that gap to be where we want to be to host the public again.”
The Hays family bought Frontier Town in the fall of 2024. The old buildings are not the only remnants of the former old west attraction, inside them are tables, chairs, menus, pictures and more from its heyday.
“The previous owners were great stewards of the property,” Hays said. “They took care of it, they put their heart and soul into it.”
For Walker, the possibility that Frontier Town could once again open to the public is a dream-come-true.
“I am so grateful that they want to honor my grandfather and still share that story with everyone,” Walker said.
For now, Hays is waiting for snow to melt to begin a full assessment of work that needs to happen, and Frontier Town sits quietly overlooking the Helena Valley, as it has for decades.
(AUGUST 2022) The site that used to be Frontier Town is quiet now, its gates closed to the public in 2001. But, it wasn’t always this way. The hand-built replica town, perched atop the continental divide, used to be a bustling tourist attraction.
Helena residents around during Frontier Town’s heyday remember it well.
“(It was) big and exciting,” Marsa Vincent recalled. “It was just awesome!”
“I do remember just feeling like you’re sitting on top of the world,” Teagan Walker said.
Walker’s grandfather, John Quigley, started building Frontier Town in the late 1940s.
“In the years after World War II, there was a real explosion of roadside attractions like that,” Montana Department of Transportation historian Jon Axline said. “I think in Montana, probably Frontier Town was the premiere one.”
Wooden signs dotted highways leading to Helena, encouraging people to visit the attraction, and people did visit. According to a brochure from 1964, as many as 2,000 people could pack the town in a day.
Frontier Town was meant to give people an “old-west” experience.
“I think it’s best described as walking back into the old west,” Walker said. “It’s where the west lives on.”
Walker said Frontier Town was her grandfather’s dream. He designed the entire attraction, and Walker said there were still parts of Frontier Town left to complete when Quigley died.
The hand-built town had a general store, bank, jail, chapel, museum and restaurant.
“There was a lot of character and love poured into the place,” Walker said. “It’s just a very unique and one-of-a-kind destination.”
Frontier Town was a destination for tourists and locals alike. Vincent fondly remembers birthday dinners at Frontier Town as a child, and it was a place her family would take visitors.
“When family came from Wyoming, we;’d go up there and show them too,” Vincent said. “We probably went maybe three, four, even five times a year.”
Axline grew up in Helena and also remembers Frontier Town.
“The meals were really good up there, and on holidays, that place was packed and it was hard to get in,” he said. “I think a lot of us miss that.”
Frontier Town changed hands several times before it closed to the public in 2001, but Axline said its decline as an attraction started before the gates shut.
“It reflects a different era in Helena history,” Axline said. “It seems to me, in a lot of ways, it started its decline when Helena was changed by an urban renewal.”
Now, Frontier Town faces another change—it’s up for sale. The property is listed for sale for $1.7 million. Its future is uncertain, but Walker has started an effort to purchase the property, you can find more information on the Facebook page she set up.
