Meet the People and Stories Behind our Street Names
- Mar 6
- 7 min read
Whitefish is crisscrossed with streets that tell the story of the people who turned this from a stumptown into a ski town. This month, we're exploring the stories of the people behind Baker Avenue, Geddes Avenue, Monegan Road, and Voerman Road.
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet)
If you were to take a drive around any modern city, you would notice a piece of technology at the corners of most intersections: green street signs. If you were to take the time, you would also notice that each of these signs bears a street name. These names are often purely utilitarian or descriptive of their use, such as First Street or Whitefish Stage Road, but just as often these road names tell a story of a person or event that was critical in the development of that city.
In this issue of Stumptown Stories, we’re going to ask a similar question that Juliet asks of Romeo. What is in the name of our roads? Road names can be arbitrary labels; the road is the same regardless of the name, but they can also define the intrinsic values and history of our city. While we have many utilitarian road names with no deeper meaning, there are also several road names worth exploring: Baker Avenue, Geddes Avenue, Monegan Road, and Voerman Road are just a few of these. Join us as we take a closer look at these roads and the people behind them.
Geddes Avenue
Geddes Avenue, a short road on the west side of Whitefish River between West 4th Street and 7th Street West, may not be of much consequence today, but its namesake tells the story of Elmer and Anna Geddes–a couple that had incredible influence over almost every major development of the young city.
Elmer worked in multiple industries and served in several roles in Whitefish in his time: from a real estate developer and justice of the peace to an alderman on the City Council. He was even chosen to be a Fruit Inspector for the city at one point and also helped oversee the development of the town’s first cemetery. Elmer also volunteered his time as secretary of the Whitefish Masonic Lodge and at the First United Presbyterian Church–you can still find a dedication to the Geddes couple on one of the church’s northern stained glass windows.
West 2nd Street looking North on O'Brien Avenue ca 1923. From left to right: small houses have been removed for an office building, behind that is Dr. Lee's House, Lupfer Street, GNRY coal chute and water tower, the large dark building in the foreground is the Episcopal Church, and the Lindell Hotel. SHS photos are not available for reuse without a license. Logo and attribution do not qualify as permission. Support the Stumptown Historical Society by purchasing a copy of this photo.
Anna Geddes was a town socialite who hosted countless women’s events, organizations, and luncheons, but like her husband, she was instrumental in the development of the town. A 1906 article in The Whitefish Pilot details the organization of a women’s reading club at their home. Even more importantly, Anna was later selected to serve on the school board in 1908 and was also selected to serve on the first board of the Whitefish Library in 1916.
The Geddes were truly a power couple whose names are mentioned countless times in the early years of The Whitefish Pilot. Their presence in the town goes back to at least 1904, if not earlier. In 1905, the newspaper made several mentions of the building of Geddes “fine home” and it being an “ornament to that part of town”. The house was built in an area formerly known as Lakeside, near City Beach today, and became the nucleus of activities for many social events at the time. Parts of their estate would go on to later be used for both baseball fields and city parks.
Voerman and Monegan Roads
In the early days of Whitefish, there were two main industries that drove the town’s growth: lumber and the railroad. Other industries began to rise up as the town grew, and dairy farming became a profitable enterprise for many. Both the Voerman and Monegan farms were key farms in the area, and their legacies live on in their road names. Today, Voerman Road runs between Park Avenue and Dillon Road on the east side of town, while Monegan Road runs from Voerman Road to JP Road south of Voerman.
Jacob Voerman, his wife, and five sons moved from Holland to the area in 1914 and purchased the old Haskill Dairy farm. While the dairy building would burn down shortly after establishing the farm, the Voermans would go on to run one of the most profitable dairy farms in the area. For the next fifty years, Jacob, his sons, and even grandsons would go on to keep the farm running.
Joe Monegan would also establish a profitable dairy farm near the Voerman farm, but he is remembered more for his involvement in Whitefish’s early athletics. As early as 1904, Whitefish had an established baseball team that would compete against their rival Kalispell– “a poor baseball town,” according to the Pilot. Monegan would go on to work with Frank Lindlief to establish Baseball (Memorial) Park on a ten-acre lot that was originally part of the Geddes estate. In 1936, Monegan is also remembered for hauling lumber and supervising the construction of the clubhouse on Whitefish’s first golf course.
Baker Avenue
A discussion on Whitefish’s road names would be incomplete without mentioning one of its busiest roads: Baker Avenue. While Baker Avenue is often used as an unofficial Highway 93 bypass by locals, it was once a muddy pothole-filled wagon road. A logical person would assume that Baker Avenue got its name from a town bakery, but instead the road is tied to one of Whitefish’s oldest industries: timber.
In 1890, Edgar S. Baker moved to the area from Michigan, settling a mile from the outlet of Whitefish Lake. He was then followed by his parents and four of his brothers (Fred, Henry John, George Edward, and Herbert) eighteen months later. His brother Frank would also move to the area later. Experienced woodsmen, the Baker brothers started Baker Brothers Company in 1892 and built the first lumber mill on Whitefish Lake.These brothers would go on to be influential members of the community and contributed much to the economy and building of the town itself.
Herb Baker would go on to suffer a terrible accident shortly after moving to the area. W.O Hutchinson, another founding member of the community, tells the tragic story:
“About the middle of October (1892)... Fred and Herb were walking along from Morton’s to Ramsey’s cabin…As it had rained recently, it was very slippery. Herb was carrying Ed’s gun by his side. He slipped and threw the gun behind him; it went off and shot him through the thigh, just below the joint…We sent to Columbia Falls for a spring wagon with bed springs and a mattress in it and took him to Columbia Falls. His brothers rented a small house there and stayed with him for about a week. The doctors finally decided it was necessary to amputate the leg. He lived only a few hours…”
This story is a brutal reminder of the difficulties these early settlers experienced with minimal access to medical care and good transportation. It was a community marked by pioneer grit, logging, railroads, and dogged determination to improve the town. Baker Brothers Company would later be sold to the John O’Brien Company, and this company would go on to be sold to the Somers Lumber Company. However, the remaining Baker Brothers would continue logging in the area and would go on to build another mill east of town. In 1904, the brothers would give the right-of-way of the road to the townsite, thus leading to the Baker Avenue we know today.
We hope you’ve enjoyed a brief look at the stories behind some of the roads in our fair city. The history behind these roads is sometimes difficult to trace, but perhaps your interest is piqued enough to what is in the name of the other road names in our city.
Sources used:
The Whitefish Pilot
Stump Town to Ski Town by Betty Schafer and Mable Engelter
Thank you for reading this Stumptown Story about the stories behind Whitefish Street Names. We hope your future is filled with only right-hand turns on them!
-The team at the Stumptown Historical Society
Comments