Two historic buildings, one historic avenue: Rex Hotel and Fargo Hotel hit the market

Two historic Billings properties hit the market recently, and if you buy them both, your commute won't be very long.

The Rex Hotel building at 2401 Montana Ave. and, just behind it, the Fargo Hotel building at 14 N. 24th St., are both on the market. The Rex is listed for $5,850,000 through Coldwell Banker, and the Fargo will run you $679,000 at NAI Global.

Back-to-back, these two properties operated as hotels in the early 1900s, as their original names suggest. And they're still standing, though that's not through lack of trying.

The Fargo was built in 1915. But it was in shambles by the late '70s, a shadow of its original glory. Lauren Hunley, the community historian at the Western Heritage Center, said that the building, “housed a few grocery stores early in its history, but nothin