Governor Brian Schweitzer
Welcome to the Virginia City & Nevada City official websites for the State of Montana properties.
Virginia City Institute
Historic Preservation Research and Technology
Montana Heritage Preservation & Development Commission
The Virginia City Institute is the training division of the Montana Heritage Preservation and Development Commission (MHC). The MHC, a Montana governor-appointed commission, was created in 1997 to manage the historic towns of Virginia City and Nevada City. The Virginia City Historic Preservation Team began work in 1999, focusing exclusively on the preservation and maintenance of the historic buildings.
The Virginia City Institute offers courses for certification in historic preservation maintenance. These courses were developed by the Virginia City Historic Preservation Team in conjunction with National Park Service preservation personnel. Preservation courses are taught by the Virginia City Historic Preservation Team, whose members are specialists in the many varied aspects of historic preservation. This season we will begin offering other types of training to be taught by other professionals in that specific field.
These training courses are held in the historic towns of Virginia City and Nevada City. Virginia and Nevada Cities have over 250 historic buildings, showcasing a huge variety of construction techniques used by a dozen different nationalities and representing the Gold Rush, Mining, and Early Homestead eras. The rare and intact wood, masonry, and stone buildings include examples of over a dozen different corner notches, gothic-arched windows, brick false fronts, elaborate wooden cornices, and other building details.
These low-cost training courses are held each spring, usually beginning in May. Anyone interested in historic preservation maintenance is welcome to attend any of the training courses. The target audience includes tradespersons, carpenters, architects, archaeologists, homeowners, museum personnel, students, and federal, state, county, and non-profit personnel responsible for historic buildings. These courses are usually limited to twenty participants for a very low student to instructor ratio and more hands-on experience.
In addition to the training courses, the Virginia City Institute offers technical support on a variety of historic preservation maintenance problems. Support includes specialized tool sources and techniques, historic preservation ethics, innovative stabilization techniques, and on-site visits, evaluations, and preservation work.
For more information about the Virginia City Institute, please contact Jeff MacDonald at (406) 843-5247 or email JMacDonald@mt.gov.
