Filed Under Schools

Madison School/Boulevard School

In 1891, Louis Smith, proprietor of the Centennial Brewery, offered to donate a 400-foot lot for a schoolhouse near the Colorado Smelter on Silver Bow Road. He also offered to build the school, allowing the school district to repay in monthly payments, but his offer was rejected.

The Boulevard School was finally built in 1896 in the yard of the Butte Reduction Works on South Montana. Maps show it on the corner of LaSalle and Franklin streets, now underneath the freeway. The one-story brick building included stoves and there were outhouse restrooms. About 135 students attended grades one through six.

Following a fire in 1916, architect Wellington Smith designed a new school building which opened at 2325 South Colorado Street in 1917. The school was renamed the Madison, and a new section was added in 1955. The school closed in 1979, and still stands as a private holding with the new address 101 Greenwood Ave.

Images

Madison School, 1917-1979
Madison School, 1917-1979 Source: Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives
Boulevard School, 1896-1916
Boulevard School, 1896-1916 Source: Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives

Location

Private Property

Metadata

Story of Butte, “Madison School/Boulevard School,” Story of Butte, accessed October 2, 2026, https://storyofbutte.org/items/show/3551.