Kleffner Ranch

The Kleffner Ranch, also known as the Child-Kleffner ranch, is located just north of East Helena on Highway 518 near the Prickly Pear Creek.  William C. Child purchased this ranch, which he called the White Face Farm, in the late 1880s and built the 27,000 square foot barn in 1887 and the octagonal house in 1888.  Child went bankrupt in the Silver Panic of 1893 and died in October of that year.  The ranch was owned or operated by a number of families for the next fifty years.  In 1943 Paul Kleffner leased the ranch, which he purchased three years later.  The Kleffners owned and operated the ranch until 2005, when it was sold to Denis and Stacy Young.  The barn and house on the ranch were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. (Photo)

Sources at Lewis & Clark Library

1. Vollmer, Ed.  "The Kleffner ranch on prickly pear at east helena: a look at its history from the days of billy child." Valleys of the Prickly Pear : a History of the Valleys of the Prickly Pear . Helena, Montana: Little Red Schoolhouse, 1988. 310-311. [Shelfmark M 978.66V].
2. Morrison, Kimberly. "Kleffner Ranch: One of the Area's Greatest Treasures." Helena Independent Record 11 July 1996: Pages 6A-7A.
3. Jorgenson, Henry W. "Two Dreams." Helena Independent Record 30 April 1989: Pages 1D-2D.

• Sources at the Montana Historical Society Research Center

   

  1. Paul Kleffner Interview, July 10, 1986.  [OH931] 
  2. "The Kleffner/Child Historical Ranch State Park Agricultural Heritage Museum : Proposal." c1985. [PAM3332]  
  3. White, C. Robert.  An appraisal of the Kleffner Ranch, formerly known as the W.C. Child Ranch "Whiteface Farm", East Helena, Montana. White-Stephens Ltd., 1984. [PAM3331]
  4. "Kleffner Ranch Tours, Helena, Mont."  Kleffner Ranch Tours, c1990. [Videorecording, VID 978.6615 K672K]
  5. "Kleffner Ranch" vertical file.
  6. Donovan, Roberta. "Historic Ranch Has Biggest Barn in the West." Farm and Ranch Living.  Vol. 6 No. 3.  Aug/Sept 1983.  p. 28-29.
  7. Morrison, Kimberly. "Kleffner Ranch: One of the Area's Greatest Treasures." Helena Independent Record 11 July 1996: Pages 6A-7A.
  8. Paladin, Vivian A.  Valleys of the Prickly Pear:  A History of the Valleys of the Prickly Pear.  Helena, MT: Little Red Schoolhouse, c1988. p. 310-311.  [978.6615 V24]
  9. O'Connell, Sue.  "Kleffner Ranch is Showcase of State's History."  Great Falls Tribune.  June 15, 1986. p. 1-E.
  10. Jorgenson, Henry W. "Two Dreams." Helena Independent Record 30 April 1989: Pages 1D-2D.

   

  State Historic Preservation Office

   

   

  On-line resources

   

  1. Morrison, Kimberly. "Kleffner Ranch: One of the Area's Greatest Treasures." Helena Independent Record 11 July 1996: Pages 6A-7A.
  2. Jorgenson, Henry W. "Two Dreams." Helena Independent Record 30 April 1989: Pages 1D-2D.