{"id":3394,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:58:08","latitude":46.02307316290956151760838110931217670440673828125,"longitude":-112.53212749958038330078125,"title":"Mountain Con Mine","subtitle":"c.1886-1974, 5291 Feet Deep","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/6dca8e866a618fe062e9bce2589f87ab.jpg","address":"Little Minah Street","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Story of Butte","Nancy Woodruff","Butte Historical Society"],"description":"Standing at an elevation of 6,135 feet, the “Con” is more than a mile high and a mile deep, the deepest on the hill. Originally called the Mountain Consolidated, the name was later shortened by tongue-twisted immigrant miners.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe Con was a copper mine and one of the biggest producers in the industry. Mammoth ore bins, now gone, housed the copper until it was loaded onto horse-drawn wagons, and in later years into train cars of the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway. Mining waste was also dropped into the bins for shipment to dumping sites.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe headframe of the Con, the second tallest of those remaining on the hill, was erected in 1928.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe Con is a consolidation of the Mountain, Burnett, Loweville, and Buffalo Mines. The Mountain Consolidated Mining Company was formed to operate the mine, and by 1887 the mine was owned by the Chambers Syndicate. In 1891 it became the property of the newly incorporated Anaconda Mining Company (to be renamed the Anaconda Copper Mining Company in 1895).<br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe foundation for the mine superintendent’s house can still be seen among the evergreens to the east of the headframe. Today the area is a park with spectacular views of the city, and is part of a paved walking trail system.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Public","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/6dca8e866a618fe062e9bce2589f87ab.jpg":{"id":5333,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Miners at Work in the Mountain Con Mine","description":"Miners working at the 4100 foot level of the Mountain Con Mine. | Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives | 1960 | C. Owen Smithers","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/6dca8e866a618fe062e9bce2589f87ab.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/096873e59e890b0421d51314499ab2b6.jpg":{"id":5334,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Mountain Con Mineyard","description":"World Museum of Mining","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/096873e59e890b0421d51314499ab2b6.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/e51509aa3ea503db1a4209093979d503.jpg":{"id":5335,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"A Mile Underground in the Mountain Con","description":"Miners holding a sign reading &quot;One Mile to Surface.&quot; This photo was probably taken when the one mile depth was first reached. The Mountain Con is the deepest mine on the Butte hill. Located at a surface elevation of about 6,000 feet, the mine today bears the words &quot;Mile High, Mile Deep&quot; on the side of a remaining structure. | Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives | 1961 | C. Owen Smithers","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/e51509aa3ea503db1a4209093979d503.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/16972883cfe4fe018f9f767171d8fe52.jpg":{"id":5336,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Miners at the 4000 foot level in the Mountain Con Mine","description":"Miners pose for a picture 4,000 feet underground in the Mountain Con Mine. | Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives | C. Owen Smithers","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/16972883cfe4fe018f9f767171d8fe52.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/bc55ac1c1228f1a25a59f34a65b70cff.jpg":{"id":5337,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Shift Boss John Herlihy, Mountain Con Mine","description":"This is a vertical photo. Click on the title to view the full image. | Library of Congress | September, 1942 | Lee Russell","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/bc55ac1c1228f1a25a59f34a65b70cff.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/eeac2a45553503c58faea7c35e1a7e90.jpg":{"id":5338,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Mountain Con Mine Under Construction","description":"View of the Mountain Con Mine in 1927 as its steel headframe and mineyard buildings are under construction. | World Museum of Mining | October 1, 1927","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/eeac2a45553503c58faea7c35e1a7e90.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/2de778e41061a230090e4f5e55d35c09.jpg":{"id":5339,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Timber Yard of the Mountain Con Mine","description":"A large amount of timber is necessary to brace drifts, cross-cuts, and other passages in the mines. | Library of Congress | September, 1942 | Lee Russell","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/2de778e41061a230090e4f5e55d35c09.jpg"},"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/3203dda142163c21b8650d334996856b.jpg":{"id":5340,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Mountain Con Mine with Toppled Ore Bins","description":"View of the Mountain Con Mine some time after its closure. The toppled ore bins are seen in the middle distance, with the headframe and idler towers in the background. | Library of Congress | Historic American Engineering Record","thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/3203dda142163c21b8650d334996856b.jpg"}}}