Fred Brinkman

[2] Brinkman's father developed a reputation as a master carpenter and cabinetmaker and was reported to have built the first house in Kalispell.

[6] In 1916, he began working as an architectural draftsman for Louis Kamper, one of the leading architects of the time in Detroit, Michigan.

[6] In a June 1917 draft registration card, Brinkman wrote that he was living in Detroit and was employed as an architect by Kamper.

[8] During World War I, he worked on the Panama Canal as a civil service architect while serving as a lieutenant in the Army Engineers, which he left in 1919.

In the book, "A Guide to Historic Kalispell," Kathryn L. McKay wrote that Brinkman "influenced the physical appearance of his hometown more than any other single person," creating buildings "in virtually all architectural style popular from the 1920s to the 1950s.

"[11] More than a dozen of Brinkman's extant works in and around Kalispell, Montana have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Anderson Style Shop, Charles Boles House, Brice Apartments, City Water Department, Cornelius Hedges Elementary School, and Russell School.