504 Main Street

By Kathy Koskimaki Carlson

City: Anaconda
Built: 1895
Map 

Intricate, original ornamental metal cresting caps the dome on the octagonal tower of this handsome 1,514-square-foot residence. Its eclectic architecture combines elements of the Queen Anne and French Second Empire styles. A partial Mansard roof at the northeast corner and a front window with unusual stone quoins and brick surrounds reflect the flamboyant tastes of the late Victorian era. The tower retains its original, charming multi-paned cottage window.

Albert MacCallum (MacCallum & Cloutier Grocery) built the residence as a rental property in 1895 and sold it in 1904 to miner, politician, and businessman Dennis Roach. Roach came to Montana from Indiana in 1889. The firm of Roach and Smith offered billiard tables, a confectionery, flowers, fishing tackle, sporting goods, cigars, and sundries. Roach and Smith, one of Anaconda’s longest established businesses, still exists as a wholesale distribution firm. Dennis Roach served as county commissioner and as a representative in the Montana legislature. After Roach’s death in 1925, his widow Maude remained at home here for more than thirty years. The porch was enclosed and an addition built in the 1940s.

The Roach's daughter, Katherine “Kash” Felt, a prominent and well-loved Anaconda matron who served on many local boards, converted the residence into classrooms where she taught kindergarten. She died in 1999 at age 95, and the family retained ownership of the property into the twenty-first century. It had stood vacant for many years until it was purchased in January 2013.  Extensive repairs and restoration are in progress in 2013.

Sources: Historic plaque by Montana Historical Society;  Northwest Tour: Anaconda, Philipsburg, Deer Lodge, Vernacular Architecture Form 30th Annual Meeting, Butte, Montana 2009, Roach House text by Dena Sanford; obituary, Anaconda Leader, July 7, 1999. Photo by Kathy Koskimaki Carlson. Additional “before” photos may be seen here.

Washoe Theater, 305 Main Street, Anaconda

City: Anaconda
Built: 1936
Architect: Marcus Priteca
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Designed by Scottish-born and Seattle-based architect B. Marcus Priteca (1890-1971), and built by Gus Forseen, Missoula contractor, the Washoe Theater opened to the public on September 24, 1936. The theater's structural architecture and elaborate interior decor are both outstanding examples of the contemporary art deco style. Construction of the 1,000 seat theater began in 1931, and was financed by the Washoe Amusement Company at a total cost of $200,000. Completion of this structure was delayed until 1936, due to financial effects of the Depression.

From the street, the Washoe’s restrained brick exterior gives little indication of the breathtaking splendor that lies beyond the etched glass doors. Hollywood artist Nat Smythe prepared the designs and watercolor sketches for the interior and the original drawings are still maintained by the current owner. Colors of cerulean blue, salmon, rose beige, and yellow are enhanced by abundant copper plating, silver and gold leaf, and ornamental ironwork. Two magnificent stags are hand-painted on the blue silk plush curtain that graces the stage. Aside from the murals, executed by three expert decorators, decorative wall and ceiling work throughout the theater was the work of members of the Painters Local of Anaconda under Smythe's supervision. The applied decor employs pastel colors with eight shades of gold leaf in addition to burnished gold leaf on relief elements.

Main Street facade.

When first opened, the Washoe employed the latest projection equipment, and was the only theater in Montana to install a Western Electric “Mirrophonic” (stereophone) sound system, first developed in 1933 by Bell Telephone Laboratories. The interior decor also included draperies, a carpet, opera chairs, hardware, and sandblasted glass door panels all carefully selected to compliment the art decor scheme.

Admission for first-run films in the 1930s was thirty-five cents. Today, the Washoe is one of the best preserved theaters in the United States, with original fixtures and equipment still in place and in use. It is all the more remarkable for its Depression-era birth, when movie theaters were built on a grand scale but no longer so opulently furnished.

The Washoe replaced an earlier theater on the same site. The Sundial Theater, originally called the Margaret in honor of Marcus Daly’s wife, was built in 1897 and destroyed by fire in 1929.

Sources: Photos by Jet Lowe (HABS/HAER, 1979, from Library of Congress; public domain). Text modified from HABS/HAER documentation, Monica Hawley, historian; and historic plaque text by Montana Historical Society. Additional resource: article by Dena Sanford in 2009 Butte Vernacular Architecture Forum Guidebook (PDF), p. 165-166.

Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall, 321-323 East Commercial Street

City: Anaconda
Built: 1896-99
Status: lost (parking lot today)
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East facade

This building was the headquarters for the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish fraternal organization first established in Anaconda in 1885. The A.O.H. auxiliary was officially organized on May 17, 1896 with 45 charter members. Today the Anaconda A.O.H. is one of the two existing chapters west of the Mississippi. The other is in San Francisco. D.J. Hennessy, founder of Hennessy Department Store, Butte, loaned the Anaconda A.O.H. division the money to build the Hibernian Block.

The building was erected in two stages and cost a total of $30,000 to construct. In 1896, a one-story brick structure, measuring 50' x 80' was completed at the southwest corner of East Commercial Avenue and Cedar Street. The building included two storefronts at the East Commercial Avenue facade, with three additional storefronts to the rear on Cedar Street. The second building, expanding the overall structural dimension to 50' x 140', was begun in the spring of 1898 and completed in early January, 1899. Pressed brick with trimmings of sandstone, granite, and terra cotta were used in both portions of this structure. When completed, the A.O.H. Hall was equipped with electric lighting, steam heating, and other "modern" conveniences. This hall was the center of all A.O.H. activities until January 1977 when it was purchased by the Urban Renewal Department of the city of Anaconda for $50,000. In the late 1970s it was under the ownership and supervision of the Community Development Agency. It was demolished c. 1985.

Sources: Photos by Jet Lowe (HABS/HAER, c. 1979, from Library of Congress; public domain). Text modified from HABS/HAER documentation, Monica Hawley, historian. Fred Quivik, Field Team; Brian Shovers, historian. Reference: HABS document

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 98000155

Butte Anaconda & Pacific Railway, General Offices, 300 West Commercial Avenue

City: Anaconda
Built: 1898
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The General Offices of the BA&P Railway formerly served as the passenger depot and dispatchers office for this rail operation. Built in 1898, the two-story brick structure has rusticated granite window lintels and sills with a continuous granite belt at the top and bottom of the second-story windows. The windows also feature overhead semicircular arch transoms. Dentilled and corbelled brickwork appears along the roofline at each building facade. The east end of the building has rounded corners, while a rectangular wing extends from the west end. The BA&P was incorporated October 1, 1892, and began hauling copper ore from the mines at Butte to the smelter at Anaconda by the close of 1893. The line also provided passenger service to Anacondans from this building location from the time of its construction until April 1955. Originally steam-powered, the BA&P Railway was, by 1916, the first fully electrified railroad in the United States, and the first heavy-haul electrified railroad in the world. In the 1960s, diesel locomotives replaced all the electric models.

Sources: Photo by Jet Lowe (HABS/HAER, c. 1979, from Library of Congress; public domain). Text modified from HABS/HAER documentation, Monica Hawley, historian. Reference: Wired for Success: The BA&P Railway, 1892-1985, by Charles V. Mutschler (Washington State University Press, 2002).

Anaconda City Hall, 401 East Commercial at Cedar Avenue

City: Anaconda
Architects: Lane & Reber
Built: 1896
Map

The Anaconda City Hall was designed by Lane and Reber, architects, and constructed in the years 1895-96. $34,000 in bonds were voted by the city for the construction of this building, and the contract was given to Jacobson and Company of Anaconda. This three-story brick building consists of three large bays at the west facade with a two-story addition to the east. The Fire Department's Engine House is located at the rear of this structure, while the front portions of the ground and second floors contain a court room, clerk's office and attorney's office.

The original plans for City Hall, prepared by Charles Lane, incorporated a 90-foot semi-enclosed tower housing a four-sided Seth Thomas illuminated clock. A 25-foot bell tower was later added to the east end of the building. Both towers are now removed. The overall building dimensions measure 53' x 102'; the main building measures 50' x 100'. The basement has 9-foot-high ceilings; the first floor, 14-foot ceilings; and the second floor 13-foot ceilings. Local materials, including Anaconda red pressed brick, monument quarry granite and Anaconda copper trim, were used to build this structure. In 1897, the county seat was moved from the town of Deer Lodge to the City Hall building in Anaconda. Deer Lodge County paid the city $2,000 annually to use this facility as the county court house until the present court house was completed in 1900.

The building is occupied in 2013 by the Copper Village Museum & Arts Center. Web site

Sources: Photo by Jet Lowe (HABS/HAER, c. 1979, from Library of Congress; public domain). Text modified from HABS/HAER documentation, Monica Hawley, historian.