Butte Buick Company/Schumacher Building
Butte National Historic Landmark District
In 1910, Butte had only three automobile-related businesses, one of which also repaired bicycles, typewriters, slot machines, and revolvers. By 1918, auto dealers, repair shops, garages, and tire stores numbered over fifty. “No other town in Montana is so well supplied in the automobile trade as is Butte,” crowed the Butte Miner in March 1920. Among those supplying Butte customers was Butte Buick Co, which moved into the first floor of this newly constructed building in 1920. Here the company maintained a service station, garage, and salesroom, where those bitten by the auto bug could buy a five-passenger touring car for $1,750 approximately $18,700 in 2009 dollars. The second floor of the brick commercial building was intended for a dance hall and incorporated a spectator’s gallery with a seating capacity of 500. The Schumacher Meat Co. owned the building, which replaced three dwellings that stood on this lot in 1916. The Schumacher name remains commemorated on the parapet. In 1940, the Butte Pioneer Club purchased the building. Open to any longtime Butte resident, the social club held bimonthly dances in the second-floor ballroom.
