'Remarkable': Swan Lake Trading Post celebrates 100-year anniversary

SWAN LAKE — In 1926 the settlement of Swan Lake was little more than a rustic outpost. It had no electricity and present-day Highway 83 turned into a lightly used dirt trail up the densely forested Swan Valley into Condon.

The town's log post office and trading post has lived many lives as an essential general store, community hub, gas station and campground, and this year celebrates a full century under one roof.

Current owner Lisa Noonan called the anniversary a testament to the 10 different owners who brought new life to the area over the century, where homesteading has transitioned to a growing tourism industry.

"The fact that this has been able to stay going, when you know sometimes people just kept driving by, for 100 years is kind of remarkable that it sustained itself," Noonan told the Missoulian in a recent interview.

While the structure still looks similar to its past decades of service, Noonan recently completed a full renovation of the trading post, including a new roof that sits on top of the original leaky shingles.

Noonan plans for several events this summer to commemorate 100 years on the site, including a special celebration planned for July 24.

A picturesque, small campground for recreational vehicles, yurts and tents has also developed over the decades surrounding a small pond. But at first, the old post office was a key connecting point for the Swan Lake community.

Humble beginnings 

Carl Toycen, who trapped the area's forests for muskrats, first built the trading post in 1926, then called Toycen's General Store. He and his wife Betty moved to the area from Wisconsin.

Within the year, the town's post office moved into the general store, which offered a myriad of supplies to the nearby Swan Lake village and for people farther out in the countryside.

The Toycens operated the store for the next 36 years. Carl's brother, Oscar, worked as the area's postmaster, but tragically died when his car plummeted into Swan Lake in 1932, according to the Bigfork Eagle.

Oscar's wife, Nina, then took over the role as postmaster. She ran the mail operations until she retired in 1960, and after her departure the Postal Service redesignated the location as a rural drop-off from Bigfork.

Several owners followed the Toycens, and with each change came a new service or program. The Love family added a gas station to the site, which came shortly after the road between Swan Lake and Seeley Lake was paved.

Other families, like Jocelyn Nelson's, expanded the opportunity to camp behind the store. She told the Missoulian that during her 16 years of ownership, her family transitioned the store to be more tourist-focused.

"When we took over, the store sold a lot of goods," Nelson said. "But people didn't need to stop there when they could drive up to Kalispell. We kept selling things like potatoes, but individually instead of full sacks."

Nelson grew up in Scobey, Montana, before traveling the Pacific Northwest with her husband Joe Watmuff. The two discovered the trading post while on an anniversary camping trip, and moved their lives to Swan Lake months later.

Nelson said during her time the campground was upgraded with yurts and cabins, making it an ideal location to stop for cyclists doing the Tour Divide race or families on their way to Glacier National Park.

Still, the post serves as a center point for the town, even after the family decided to close the post office in 2012.

She said in her first week of ownership that a neighbor walked to the store after experiencing a heart attack, but survived in part because two area search and rescue employees were eating lunch at the business.

"That place has always been the hub of town," Nelson said.

The Nelsons eventually sold to Noonan, who first discovered the trading post while on a vacation decades ago. She said she started visiting every summer, and when the property went to sale, she jumped on the opportunity.

By the time Noonan took over in 2018, the site was in need of several repairs. Then a massive flood hit the valley, and flooded the interior of the store.

"We just had to remodel the whole thing, we had to take the old flooring out," Noonan said. "And so that just led to us thinking, if we have to take the floor out, we might as well replace the roof."

A polished facelift

The trading post had seen better days, and Noonan set out to upgrade the interior when she took over ownership.

Coincidentally, her work started during the COVID pandemic, which closed the trading post for two years. That allowed Noonan to install a new roof, repanel  the interior and also clean up the campground area.

"Well, this is what I am doing," Noonan recalled. "I am going to try to stay alive, try to keep the family healthy, and then meanwhile I will just do this."

The business partially reopened in 2022, Noonan said. The reviews on the renovated building were mixed, she said. Some liked the clean look, while others missed simpler feel.

But the same families who camped there each summer returned, and soon the business fell into its summer cycle. Noonan offers all sorts of goods on site, like ice cream, sandwiches and beer.

There are also a few out-of-place items, like a set of show shoes a customer brought in for sale this year. Like its origins, Noonan still does some old-fashioned trading.

"Last year I had a generator here, and I usually have a paddleboard, just various stuff, and they usually sell," Noonan said.

When the Missoulian visited the day before the trading post opened, several people already looked to stop by for things like firewood or to say hello to the staff of the trading post.

The area will likely sell out by good weather, Noonan said, but there is generally space for people to lay down their tents along the shallow pond in the center of the campground.

The business also rents yurts and small cabins on the property, but fair warning that the shelters are not glamping, there is no electricity, and the only internet connection is in the lodge.

Noonan is not sure how much longer she will operate the trading post, but is glad she decided to take up the task of restoring the property. She said she hopes the building can remain a happy place for area residents and passersby.

"This was my part, and so I do not know when to decide when my part is done, but I just feel like that this was my part for the history of this," Noonan said. "Even though that is not what I planned on, I am glad I stayed with it."