Where to Go With Seven Miles of History?

High-density storage makes the most of limited space.

Since 1865, the Montana Historical Society has been building and preserving one of the nation’s oldest historical collections. By 2014, that collection had stretched to seven miles’ worth of precious records and artifacts stored on open shelves. The shelving system left items vulnerable to damage and dust and made poor use of the space.

The Montana Historical Society faced some unique storage challenges. The archive building layout is irregular, creating many unusable gaps, and the location in Helena, Montana, is prone to earthquakes. In addition to increasing the storage capacity, it was also essential to safeguard the collection against environmental damage and theft.

Datum designed a storage solution for the history books.

Datum’s custom high-density storage system increased the Montana Historical Society’s storage capacity by more than 40 percent. The high-density system featured safety locks and seismic rails to offer the stability and security needed to protect the priceless artifacts for future generations. 

The result was more storage, a more secure collection, and a system that is easier to navigate and use.