Old Camas Prairie School Gymnasium

The Camas Prairie School Gymnasium was designed by Missoula architect H.E. Kirkemo and completed in 1940, near the end of the New Deal school building programs. This tiny gymnasium is among the handful of really excellent examples of Prairie style in Montana’s public architecture. The broad upland prairie known as Camas Prairie sits tucked into the Bitterroot mountains in the southwestern corner of the Flathead Indian Reservation, crossed now by Montana Highway 28. When the area was opened up to white settlers in early 1910, education was established as a high priority; by 1920, there were five schools serving the prairie. Dances and socials held in the neighboring gym became grand parties made all the more festive through the presence of Delco power-plant generated electric lights (Camas Prairie didn’t receive electrical service until 1951). The school served its community for 70 years before closing in 2017. Now the pink gymnasium stands alone along Highway 28, its bold black lettering announcing a purpose that no longer exists.