The Montgomery building had one ground-level floor with a false front added to make the building appear taller. The false front was topped by a bracketed cornice typical of the Italianate style popular at the time. This created the impression that the building was larger and housed more businesses and people, similar to the main commercial streets found in eastern American towns. In front of the original structure there was a wooden sidewalk covered by a wooden roof and hitching posts for horses. It is known exactly what the exterior of the Montgomery building looked like in 1882 from a photograph taken by F. Parker who documented many of the changes taking place in the city during that period.