Retiring Guy's Digest: 2020 pandemic road trip to from Wisconsin to Montana: Chapter 11, Gibson Park and Central Avenue in Great Falls

Photo by Retiring Guy

Chapter 11: Gibbon Park and Downtown Great Falls

October 4, 2020

Gibson Park is an oblong sliver of green space that stretches for nearly a mile to the northeast from 1st Avenue North. It is called the jewel of Great Falls’ park system, but when you look at the city’s parks website, nothing else comes close, especially in the area of amenities. Gibson Park is clearly in a class of its own; everything else is ‘paste’ in comparison. A number of Nelson family slides shows the park at its colorful peak. Along with the extensive flower gardens, the park includes a duck pond, bandshell, walking paths, picnic areas, and a basketball court. It was a frequent destination when we lived in Great Falls, especially after church, or so it appears, as the Nelson kids usually look to be dressed in their Sunday best.

Photo by Retiring Guy's Dad

My only memories of family visits here are feeding the ducks and using the playground equipment. One time, Barb — she must have been 2 at the time — dashed in front of a swing as one of her brothers arced forward, a leg glancing a blow against of her forehead, enough to result in a fit of crying. At least that’s always been my version The details are lost in a haze. Was I pushing you, Lar? Or vice versa? Dad or Mom? Questions that will forever remain unanswered.

Overall, the park remains in good condition, although the area around the duck pond looked a bit shabby. And I suspect the parks department has a small budget for flowers. It was in the latter half of a beautiful Sunday afternoon when JoAnna strolled along the paths, but we encountered few other visitors. I hope it was just an anomaly that such a beautiful place was so underutilized.

Central Avenue in 1955

Postcard from Retiring Guy's collection

Photo by Retiring Guy 2020

From Gibson Park, we walked to Central Avenue, the main, and for all practical purposes, the only business district in Great Falls in the 1950s. It once was home to a typical array of national chain stores, all of them within a two-block cluster as you can see from the street numbers — Sears (400), Penney’s (509), Montgomery Ward (410), Woolworth’s (414), Ben Franklin (506), and a Rexall drug store (426). Two locally owned department stores, Buttrey’s (501) and The Paris of Montana (321) also served as anchors. All of them, of course, are long gone, having moved to locations in outlying areas of the city or gone out of business. (Sears, a Homestore outlet, and Penney’s are the only members of this group who remain, and they probably won’t be around much longer.)

Remaining photos by Retiring Guy (2020)

The beginning of the end for Central Avenue as Great Falls’ prime retail district occurred in 1959, when a shopping center opened on 10th Avenue South, the main east-west thoroughfare through the city. When we lived there, development along this stretch was limited mostly to motels, gas stations, and drive-in restaurants. (I have a vague memory of going with Dad to an A&W on one of our last days in Great Falls.

Today, Central Avenue has been transformed into a pedestrian-friendly area where numerous restaurants and bars are located, most them having outdoor seating. (A must nowadays.). Nevertheless, downtown Great Falls was even quieter than Gibson Park. We pretty much had the streets to ourselves.

“We should look for a place to have a beer,” JoAnna suggested.

“There’s a brewpub – I think it’s called the Mighty Mo -- a block from here,” I noted, having done some research on the drive from Der Lodge.

Unfortunately, it wasn't open. Neither were any of the other restaurant and bars in the near vicinity

“Do they have blue laws here?” JoAnna wondered aloud.

“I hope not,” I replied. “That would certainly limit our options for dinner.

Since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, we decided to check our options. We found a restaurant, MacKenzie River Pizza that offers covered patio seating and a slightly obscured view of the Missouri River. As I recall, the area used to be the exclusive province of warehouses and other industrial-type buildings. Now it is part of the River’s Edge Trail, an extensive urban bike-pedestrian system that runs along both sides of the river.