Northwest-Big Butte Neighborhood
The Northwest-Big Butte Neighborhood occupies the northwest corner of the National Historic Landmark District just below the 500-foot-tall Big Butte, the conical extinct volcanic plug from which the city takes its name. The neighborhood includes 482 buildings. In addition to houses, these include 30 commercial buildings, a modern school, the Roman Catholic Immaculate Conception Church and its ancillary parish buildings, and the Butte Water Company's West Side Reservoir and Pumping Station. Eighty-nine percent of the buildings in the neighborhood were constructed between 1890 and 1920, and a strong 85% of neighborhood properties contribute to the significance of the Butte-Anaconda National Historic Landmark District.
Gannon Residence
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Home ownership symbolized independence and respectability when John and Rose Gannon constructed this five-room cottage circa 1904. A pared-down version of a high-style asymmetrical Queen Anne residence, the brick home represented a stake for thirty-six-year-old John Gannon, an oiler at the Diamond…
View Story Show on Map
1201 North Alabama
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Well-known Butte realtor E. Sterrett Shields and his family were the longtime residents of this interesting home, built just after the turn of the twentieth century. Shields was secretary/treasurer of the Butte Land and Investment Company and a nephew of its founder, S. V. Kemper. The firm…
View Story Show on Map
1117 North Emmett
Butte National Historic Landmark District
“Let us help you breathe the air of freedom by selling you a home on the monthly payment plan.” So advertised the Butte Land and Investment Company, which sold William and Louvia Rowe this lot in 1919. Home ownership offered the Rowes a piece of the American dream, even as they struggled…
View Story Show on Map
819 North Henry Avenue
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Butte’s voracious appetite for laborers created a huge demand for housing and sent rental rates skyrocketing beyond the means of most working folks. Real estate companies responded, platting new additions and building inexpensive, modest houses that could be purchased on time payments. One company…
View Story Show on Map
1129 Lewisohn
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Craftsman style bungalows were phenomenally popular in the 1910s, nationally and in Butte. A low-pitched gable roof, open porch, exposed rafter tails, and decorative knee braces identify this well-preserved example of the style. Constructed between 1900 and 1915, the home boasts its original…
View Story Show on Map
1115 Lewisohn
Butte National Historic Landmark District
New York capitalist Leonard Lewisohn—a principal in both the Boston and Montana and the Butte and Boston mining companies—invested heavily in Butte even though he never lived here. Among his other business ventures, he and business partner Simon Jacobs platted the Waukesha Addition in 1891. The…
View Story Show on Map
721-723 North Henry Avenue
Butte National Historic Landmark District
With a two-story, north-side bay window providing extra light and air, this brick duplex takes full advantage of its corner lot. Tuscan columns support the gabled porticos that define the private entrances to a first-floor flat and an interior staircase that leads to the second-story apartment.…
View Story Show on Map
615-617 1/2 North Excelsior
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Bay-fronted flats with large, two-story porches were a popular solution to Butte’s housing shortage. The city boasted over two hundred of these characteristically urban buildings by 1920, with the majority constructed before 1910. The bay windows brought light and air into the apartments, while the…
View Story Show on Map
518 Henry Avenue
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Attorney Louis Sanders, who resided next door, owned this lot in 1905. Likely constructed that year, this one-and-one-half-story residence became home to fellow attorney John E. Corette in 1906. By 1910, Howard Music Company president John Howard had purchased the house, where he lived with his…
View Story Show on Map
931 Caledonia
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Miner John Trevithick worked at the Leonard Mine in Meaderville when he built this one-story brick home in 1900. Such five-room, L-shaped dwellings provided affordable, attractive residences for many Butte miners. Front polygonal bays and mass-produced decorative detailing provided visual interest…
View Story Show on Map
Immaculate Conception Church
1200 Caledonia
The bright white façade of this stunning church, prominently located beneath Big Butte, serves as a beacon proclaiming the heart of Butte’s west side Catholic community. The Immaculate Conception Parish was created from the overflowing St. Patrick and St. Lawrence O’Toole parishes in 1906. The…
View Story Show on Map