Dreeland House
The second story of this residence, built circa 1884, dates to Walkerville’s formative days. Irish native John Dreeland may have been the first resident. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1869 to pursue mining. By 1884, he had settled on still-developing West Daly Street and was a partner in Butte’s Montana Union Publishing Co. In 1886, he opened the Butte Brewery Depot saloon. The next year, he and George Pascoe patented the nearby Colonel Sellers vein, a manganese mine. John, wife Bridget, and their three children lived here in 1900 when copper king William A. Clark funded construction of Butte’s streetcar line into Walkerville via West Daly Street. To build the line, contractors had to lower the street level by 2.5 feet. Some homeowners added retaining walls and stairs to their front property line, while others, like Dreeland and Peter Schonsberg next door, jacked up their wood-frame homes and built new stone walls under their existing buildings. After 1907, a succession of Italian families lived here. Timber contractor Maggiorino “Mudge” Tamietti and wife Sadie were long-time residents from 1931 until Sadie’s death in 1965.
Images