My wife and I were driving to Conrad for a meeting. Readers who have traveled west along US 2 from Blaine County know that once you leave Havre, rest stops are virtually nonexistent until you reach Chester. In the winter the situation is worse since the Chester rest area closes.

A couple of hours into the trip we stopped at the Visitors' Center on the east edge of Shelby for a bathroom break (this is another rest stop that is frequently closed in the winter months). We were browsing the information about area attractions and saw some promotional materials for what was purported to be a new travelers' rest stop-the "Carousel Rest Area of Shelby."

And per information from the people at the Visitors' Center, just across a city street was the partially installed Champions Park, a memorial that commemorates the ill-fated Dempsey-Gibbons boxing match that nearly bankrupted the town in 1923. We were a bit ahead of schedule and decided to check out these two new features in Shelby.

The Carousel Rest Area of Shelby

The simplest way to find this new rest stop and boxing memorial is to proceed west through Shelby on Highway 2. About two blocks before you get to the ramps to access I-15, look past the Pizza Hut on the south side of Highway 2-you'll see the building that houses, yes, a full blown functioning 1936-era carousel. At this point in time signage is still being erected, but the building is easily seen from the side street off Highway 2. The boxing exhibit is visible from the rest stop. For high tech travelers, put "441 11th Ave N" in your electronic device and follow the directions.

The idea to use the carousel as a center piece for a rest stop is the brainchild of 85 year-old Harry Benjamin, a retired farmer and life long tinkerer and promoter. Several years ago Benjamin was called to the Marias Fair to fix a broken carousel. He got the idea that he would like to find a carousel and restore it. With no official rest stop in Shelby and given the scarcity of state funds little likelihood a public rest stop would ever be built, Harry Benjamin got the idea to build a rest stop with a restored carousel as the centerpiece. He envisioned a "gathering place for entertainment, celebrations, social gatherings and public restroom facilities that welcome all to Shelby."

Benjamin traveled around until he found a carousel that fit his needs and paid for it with his own funds. Interestingly it was the same 1936 Allan Herschell carousel that he repaired back in Montana. The Allan Herschell Company, in New York state, built varying types of carnival and amusement park rides from 1915-1970. Historians note, "Nearly every person who has visited an amusement park at some time in their lives has experienced the thrill of riding on one of the Hershcell rides."

The carousel arrived in Shelby in November, 2016. The official dedication of the restored carousel, the nearly completed building that houses it, the public rest rooms and other amenities for social gatherings was dedicated in May, 2018. Harry Benjamin said, "It was a long process, well, not too long."

Benjamin and a group of supporters formed a non-profit organization and began raising money to build the structure to house the carousel, refurbish the 23 'animals' that made up the carousel and do the mechanical restoration. He figured about $400,000 would be needed to complete the project.

There were all sorts of sponsorships to help with the project-one could sponsor an animal on the carousel ($6,000 each and "only 23 available"), have a ranch or business photo on the outer rotating platform ($2,500) or have a livestock brand on one of the animals ($250). Prisoners at the nearby Crossroads Correctional Facility did much of the painting of the animals and fabricated a fire truck and semi for the carousel.

The community of Shelby supported the project with sweat equity and funding. It's a great example of what a community can do when people pull together toward a common goal. And it's a fun stop to experience a functioning carousel in this part of Montana.

Champions Park-adjacent to the Carousel Rest Area of Shelby

Across a city street and slightly north and west of the carousel rest stop is Champions Park. Ever since I've lived on the Hi-line I've heard bits and pieces of the story about the 1923 fight between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons. First conceived as a publicity stunt to sell building lots in Shelby, promoters got drawn into a $300,000 contract with Dempsey's fight promoter and the event ended up putting promoters in debt for $160,000 and causing several area banks to fail.

Local promoters read in the Great Falls newspaper that Montreal had offered Dempsey $200,000 to fight in Canada. Looking for ways to build interest in Shelby, with a population of about 500 in the early 1920's, a local realtor put in a bid for $300,000 and to his surprise, his bid was accepted and ironclad. The promoters struggled to raise the money to meet the contract and assure the fight would happen.

Meanwhile, a wooden stadium that would seat 40,000 spectators was built near the railroad in Shelby. A rail spur was built so that the hordes of expected visitors could be delivered right in to town to the stadium or a number of temporary hotels being built for the event. As local promoters scrambled to raise the money to guarantee Dempsey's appearance, the boxer's manager made on again, off again pronouncements that the fight would be canceled. At the last minute Dempsey's manager agreed to take all the gate proceeds to make up the rest of the original contract, leaving no money for the local promoters.

Because it was uncertain the fight would happen, many people did not show. On the day of the fight, July 4, 1923, the stadium was less than half full and many spectators had crashed the gate and didn't pay. Later the wood from the stadium was repossessed and sold to locals. A popular story we heard at the Visitors' Center was that "many houses built in the 1920's around here have boards in them that still have seat numbers painted on them"

How Champions Park got started is another interesting story. A boxing fan in Michigan never got to attend the fight in Shelby but talked about it constantly to his sons. In 1991 one of the sons visited Shelby and was dismayed that there was little information about the fight and virtually no markers at the supposed site where the fight was held. The son was a professional photographer and took a lot of photos and reported back to his family. Another son of the original fan was a designer and he drew up plans for a memorial park and gave them, at no cost, to the city of Shelby.

This aerial photo shows the 40,000-seat wooden stadium built in Shelby for the July 4, 1923 boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons. Promoters in Shelby, as a publicity stunt, offered a payment to Dempsey of $300,000 if he would come to fight in Shelby. For a variety of reasons turnout for the fight waned and many people, except Dempsey, lost money. The wooden stadium was repossessed, torn down and the wood sold.

In 2003, exactly 80 years after the fight, a local group began to raise money for a memorial. The part of the memorial currently completed is a symbolic representation of the wooden stadium. A slightly raised stage has two boxers and a referee. Leading to the stage from a circle walk around the stage, are pathways suggestive of aisles in the stadium. Around the outside of the "stadium" is a series of information placards, very well done, with information about the various stages of how the fight idea developed and its unfortunate ending. It's a great way to quickly understand the history of the Dempsey-Gibbons fight.

If you can make the 120+ miles to Shelby, it appears there will be a year round place to stop. Good luck with that.