The Grand Union: Montana’s Oldest-Operating Hotel & My Family’s Western Heirloom
How a 19th-century hotel became the backdrop of the story my family is still writing and the deepest pride we could feel as generational Montanans.
There are very few things in life that still feel rare. We live in a world where anything can be engineered, renovated, bought, sold, scaled, or branded. Montana especially is full of this now: the big houses, the tech migration, the land grabs, the sudden “Montana is so authentic” energy from people who moved here six months ago (no judgement). It’s like the West became an aesthetic the moment Instagram realized it photographed well and Yellowstone debuted.
And let me just say, as someone who always thought she’d live in a city and appreciates great food, world-class skiing, an easy airport, etc. I am grateful for the growth. A small-town Montana kid like me has been able to move back home and start something pretty damn cool, because of this growth. I appreciate it (for the most part).
But the Grand Union is not an aesthetic. She’s an artifact. A Western gem. Truly a gateway to the history of The West.
And every time I step through her doors, something inside me shifts. It feels rooted or ancestral, you could say. I’m a sixth-generation Montanan, a girl who once swore she’d never move back, and now I’ve never been more rooted here. But nowhere do I feel my roots more than in that red-brick building along the Missouri River.
Because the Grand Union isn’t just old. She’s original. As original as they come, around here. Fort Benton Montana, which is centrally located, is known as the Birthplace of The West, because it was the farthest inward that steamships could travel inward before the railroad made it’s way to the area.
Built in 1882, The Grand Union opened the same week the railroad finally reached Fort Benton, back when the town was considered the last civilized stop before heading West. Presidents stayed there. Fur traders stayed there. Steamboat captains, explorers, military officers, and the kind of stubborn, gritty Montanans who shaped this state one unglamorous day at a time.
For decades, she was known as the finest hotel between Chicago and Seattle. Let that sink in. The finest. In the entire West. (God, I love that.) She saw the rise and fall of river travel, the battles of expansion, the collapse of frontier towns, the arrival of electricity, the flooding of the Missouri, and the inevitable decline of historic hotels across America. Most didn’t survive. But she did.
She saw the rise and fall of river travel, the battles of expansion, the collapse of frontier towns, the arrival of electricity, the flooding of the Missouri, and the inevitable decline of historic hotels across America. Most didn’t survive. But she has.
When my parents bought the Grand Union four years ago, I don’t think I understood the weight of what that meant. I saw the business side. The restoration. The responsibility. But not the emotional inheritance. The quiet truth that we weren’t just taking ownership of a property. We were stepping into a legacy that existed long before any of us were born. We became the stewards of her story.
And you can feel that history in every corner: The original brickwork. The high-arch windows overlooking the Missouri. The old photographs lining the hallways. The dining room that still feels like it was built for travelers arriving in wool coats and river dust.
When you sit in those massive windows on a snowy morning with a coffee, you feel it. When you step onto the patio in the summer with a glass of wine and watch the Missouri River float by, you feel it. When the light hits the lobby just right, and the building exhales like she’s lived a thousand lives, you feel it. It’s not nostalgia. Its presence. And the best part? She’s not a museum you look at, she’s a place you get to actually experience. The rooms are beautiful and intimate. The food is genuinely some of the best in the state. The staff cares in the way people only care when they’re working in a place that actually means something. And the town itself is quiet, historic, unbothered. It feels like the Montana people imagine but rarely find. If you’re looking for somewhere to keep busy, this isn’t it. And that’s why I love Fort Benton so much. When the summer gets a tad overwhelming with tourists in Bozeman, I love to take the three hour drive and escape to small town America.
For travelers, this is the magic: It’s one of the only places left in the state where you can actually touch the original West without it feeling commercialized or faux-rustic or “designed for Instagram.” No neon cowboy signs. No curated “Montana chic” gift shop. No overbuilt resort energy. This town has a Sandlot-like public swimming pool, a Tasty Freeze with a walk up window, and mornings so quiet you can hear the currant of the river.
This place is authentic. The real kind. And that’s what makes it rare. It’s also why people return. Why locals drive hours just to have dinner there. Why strangers tell me, “Oh my gosh, I’ve stayed there. That hotel is so special.” Why guests walk in and immediately slow down, like their bodies intuitively understand they’ve entered a different tempo.
The Grand Union is the kind of place you go not just to stay, but to feel something. To reconnect with the West as it was— and, in many ways, still is. And maybe that’s why it matters so much to me now. Being a Montanan today looks different than it used to. There’s pride, yes, but also protectiveness. We live in a place everyone wants, but few understand. And it feels rare, almost radical, to keep something sacred. To preserve a piece of history that wasn’t built for trend cycles or curated aesthetics, it was built for purpose, community, grit, and hospitality. So when I’m at the Grand Union— coffee in the winter window, wine by the river in summer, or simply walking those old hallways— it feels like a full-circle moment to our history and roots.
My family didn’t just buy a hotel. We inherited a legacy. And we get to help write the next chapter.
If you ever crave the Montana that doesn’t exist on Instagram— the real Montana, the one your grandparents talk about— come stay with us. Experience her the way she was intended: slowly, warmly, deliberately. Because some things out here are still rare.
And she’s one of them. xx
My Mini Guide to Experiencing the Grand Union
Where to stay, what to eat, what to do! This is my true HOME and I’m excited to share parts of Central Montana with you.
Fort Benton & The Grand Union
Book your room:
The Grand Union Hotel — Fort Benton, Montana
Reserve at: https://www.grandunionhotel.com
Note: The beds are full beds. This can be a problem for some people, but the owner who did the renovation was so intentional. She wanted to preserve the rooms as they were originally, which were to be designed with full-size beds.
Dinner at the Union Grille
Reserve at: https://www.grandunionhotel.com/restaurant
Note: Go early so you can watch the light shift across the Missouri River through the high-arched windows. Order the walleye if you want something regional. Get dessert even if you swear you’re “not a dessert person.”
Walk the Missouri Riverwalk
Note: Steps from the hotel. Peaceful. Best with coffee in the morning or an ice cream cone from The Tasty Freeze in the evening..
Visit The Old Fort Benton Historic District
Note: The birthplace of Montana’s fur trade— and strikingly cinematic. It’s actually crazy that Taylor Sheridan hasn’t written a plot encompassing all of this.
Check Out The Museum of the Northern Great Plains
Note: An underrated window into the grit that built this region. Again— this area is for the history buffs!
Enjoy a Glass of Wine on the back patio at sunset
Note: This is where the movie moment happens.
Browse Local Shops & Cafés
Note: Fort Benton is small, warm, and wonderfully unbothered. I love a sundae from The Tasty Freeze in the summer (extra peanuts, please) and a plate of nachos from The Clubhouse.
Surrounding Areas & More To Do
C.M. Russell Museum— Great Falls
Note: This is about 30-miles from Fort Benton, but worth the drive. A must if you want to understand the Western imagination. It’s the heartbeat of Montana art. It truly is one of my most favorite spots. The gift shop has some great gems.
The Lewis & Clark Museum— Great Falls
Note: Truly so cool. It never ceases to amaze me that The West is so potent historically in this part of the state.
Fifth & Wine— Great Falls
Note: Great for lunch in between museum stops.
Snits Bar— Great Falls
Note: My dad’s bar. Truly the best cheeseburger. Ask for a Coors Light in one of the frosted mugs. THE BEST!
