{"product_id":"city-of-great-falls-municipal-bond-from-1917","title":"City of Great Falls Municipal Bond from 1917","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is an original Special Improvement District Coupon Bond from the City of Great Falls, dated August 1917, printed in green. Features a panoramic vignette of the Great Falls of the Missouri River, showing dramatic waterfalls cascading over multiple tiers of rocky cliffs with a scenic landscape background. The bond was issued to S. Birch and Sons Construction Company for Special Improvement District No. 325.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe bond shows age-appropriate wear with light discoloration that gives the century-old municipal document authentic character and patina. No cancellation markings are visible, indicating this bond was never redeemed. The certificate bears handwritten signatures from the Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer, along with the official city seal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy 1917, Great Falls had transformed from a frontier outpost into Montana's industrial powerhouse, anchored by the spectacular waterfalls that provided abundant hydroelectric power for copper smelting and manufacturing. The city was founded in 1883 by \u003cstrong\u003eParis Gibson\u003c\/strong\u003e, a visionary entrepreneur who envisioned Great Falls as the \"Pittsburgh of the West.\" Gibson partnered with copper king \u003cstrong\u003eMarcus Daly\u003c\/strong\u003e, who recognized the Missouri River falls as the perfect location for processing ore from his Anaconda mines. The massive Black Eagle Dam, completed in 1891, cemented Great Falls' role as the smelting capital of the world, where copper from Butte was refined into wire that electrified American cities. Special Improvement Districts like No. 325 funded the infrastructure—paved streets, water mains, sidewalks—that supported this industrial boom and the thousands of workers it attracted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMunicipal bonds from the World War I era capture a pivotal moment when American cities were borrowing against future prosperity to build the infrastructure of the modern age. These documents represent both civic ambition and financial artistry, as even utilitarian municipal financing required the engraver's craft to inspire public confidence. The detailed vignette of the Great Falls themselves transforms a simple debt instrument into a portrait of the natural wonder that powered an entire region's economy. Offered as a collectible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ticker History","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52467284312351,"sku":"GOVT-GIDQB-BU-GRN-1917-001","price":69.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0836\/8757\/1743\/files\/city-of-great-falls-bond-1917-front-1.jpg?v=1777180383","url":"https:\/\/shop.tickerhistory.com\/products\/city-of-great-falls-municipal-bond-from-1917","provider":"Ticker History","version":"1.0","type":"link"}