Commercial inspection in Montgomery, MN.

By the Closer Look Inspectors team · Facts checked October 2026 against the sources listed below · About our inspectors

A commercial property inspection shows a Montgomery buyer or lender how a railroad-era brick building has held up. The Montgomery Commercial Historic District, listed April 9, 2021, is described by the state as mostly one- and two-story brick Commercial-style buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

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Commercial buildings in and around Montgomery

A railroad downtown listed in 2021

The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office says Montgomery was platted in the mid-1870s and quickly grew into a thriving railroad community. The National Park Service weekly list for April 8 through 15, 2021, records the Montgomery Commercial Historic District as listed on April 9, centering on 1st Street between Vine and Oak Avenues and roughly bounded by 2nd Street West and the railroad tracks.

The state describes the district as mostly one- and two-story brick Commercial-style buildings built largely in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Low brick storefront buildings of that age typically share side walls, carry flat or low-slope roofs behind a parapet, and have had their storefronts changed more than once. Those roof edges, shared walls and altered openings are where leaks and hidden repairs tend to show up. The city’s community page describes its historic downtown as a place where beautifully preserved buildings and local shops offer a glimpse into the past.

Hilltop Hall and brick over a wood frame

The 1980 state inventory form for Hilltop Hall places the building on a rise at the northern edge of Montgomery’s principal business district, with a hilltop location overlooking the railroad tracks. It describes a c.1892 commercial structure two stories in height that originally held a large dance hall upstairs and a saloon and furniture store on the first floor, and it calls the building a key element in the Czech community of Montgomery.

Another building on First Street, in the heart of the principal business district, shows a different method. The state inventory form for the Westerman Lumber Office and Residence says the building was constructed in the 1880s as a small frame office building and that in 1895 the structure was veneered in buff colored brick; it places the railroad tracks immediately east of the building. The form calls it an outstanding representative of the brick buildings constructed during the late nineteenth century in the Montgomery and New Prague area, and adds that brick manufactured in the Minnesota River Valley area was used for a wide range of buildings there. A brick face over a wood frame, and a big open hall above storefronts, are both layouts worth understanding before changes are planned.

Food processing, warehouse space and a 2020 fire

Seneca Foods lists a Montgomery plant of approximately 549,000 square feet, with primary uses of corn, peas and warehouse space. Buildings of that scale tend to have large roof areas, loading docks and heavy electrical service. Thermal imaging, which shows surface temperature differences, is a common way to find trapped moisture under a large flat roof.

Older downtown blocks often share walls. A blog post on Minnesota Prairie Roots dated August 12, 2020 reports that fire destroyed a historic building at 104 South First Street in downtown Montgomery during the early morning hours of July 29. Where buildings share walls, the condition of those walls and of the roofs matters to every owner on the block.

Commercial buildings we inspect

Quick answers

Sources

• Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Historic Districts
• National Park Service: Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties, 4/8/2021 through 4/15/2021
• City of Montgomery: Community page
• National Park Service: Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form, Hilltop Hall, Montgomery
• National Park Service: Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form, Westerman Lumber Office and Residence, Montgomery
• Seneca Foods: Plant Locations
• Minnesota Prairie Roots: Building on history in Montgomery (August 12, 2020)

Nearby towns

Commercial property inspection in Minnesota and Iowa · Home inspection in Montgomery