The Lewis and Clark County Historical Society (LCCHS) will dedicate the new Dennis McCahon Memorial Gallery at 2:00 PM, Saturday, June 6, 2026 at the LCCHS History Center located in the downtown Steamboat Block, 618 Helena Avenue.
Dennis McCahon was a prolific, creative and very detailed artist. His art featured Helena’s historic buildings, done to scale, and including the smallest detail. He created wonderful balsa wood models, colored pencil, and pen and ink art that show individual bricks and stonework,
decorative trim, and intricate, historically accurate design features. Also the historian, Dennis included a written description of each piece. His ultimate balsa wood model, highlighting downtown Helena before the disastrous 1929 fires, is displayed in the Power Block lobby. He
was a founding member of LCCHS and a life-long member.
A former land use planner, Dennis also wrote about a variety of Helena area topics: weather, geology, history, philosophy, and sense of place. He walked from his west side home to and throughout downtown almost daily, discussed the importance of pedestrian scale, and encouraged the public to enjoy the many historic buildings up close. His ultimate artistic piece was the creation of Helena’s Sesquicentennial Mural in downtown’s Performance Square in 2014.
LCCHS president John Shontz said, “The dedication and opening of the Society’s gallery is inkeeping with Dennis’s passion for history and art, and will provide an opportunity for Lewis and Clark County artists and organizations to display and sell their work to the public.”
The History Center ‘s new expanded hours are Thursday and Friday from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and Saturday from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM, as well as by appointment.
LCCHS is a 501-c-3 nonprofit organization established in 1989. The LCCHS History Center contains exhibits, a research archive, and the extensive and nationally renowned Jay Lechner trolley research library. For more information, please call (406) 442-0546 to leave a message or stop by the LCCHS History Center.