803 West Granite

Built: 1901
Map 

Prominently situated on a corner lot, this Queen Anne style residence is a neighborhood showpiece. Band leader Sam Treloar had the brick-veneered house constructed in 1901, possibly as an investment property. The Cornish bandmaster is best known as the leader of the Butte Mines Band, which he founded under a different name in 1887 and led for over fifty years. It was one of the United States’ most celebrated industrial bands, and its members, all miners, won first place in competitions across the West.

The two-story residence features an octagonal turret with wide overhanging eaves and a fixed stained glass window, an inviting front porch with double Tuscan column porch supports, and a projecting bay on the east façade. Banker Rupert Nuckolls lived here from 1908 through 1912 with his wife Georgia, their three children, and (after their eldest daughter married), their son-in-law and granddaughter. Georgia Nuckolls was an active clubwoman. Starting in the 1890s, the woman’s club movement provided its members social and intellectual opportunities (Nuckolls, for example was active in the Westside Shakespeare Club) as well as advocating for political reform.

Text from Historic Plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

815 West Granite

Built: 1897
Map 

Butte boomed as copper production doubled in the 1890s. The city issued 1,684 building permits between 1897 and 1898 as carpenters worked furiously to keep up with the demand for housing. The availability of mass-produced decoration allowed builders to embellish residences, and houses like this one showcased the Queen Anne style’s complicated textures and angles. Here the steeply pitched roof, cutaway front bay, square turret, fish-scale shingles, stained glass, and elaborate gable ornament all reflect the popular style.

Added between 1900 and 1916, the enclosed porch mirrors a later, simpler aesthetic. The hairpin fence, however, is likely original. Symbolically separating the 1897 residence from the street, the fence signals the Victorian notion that a dwelling should be a sanctuary from the larger world. In 1900, the residence became home—and perhaps sanctuary—to Cyrenus and Martha Smith. Cyrenus was a principal in the Owsley Realty Company and the Phoenix Electric Company. Victorian ideals aside, the house clearly suited them; the couple lived here until their deaths, his in 1938 and hers in 1955.

Text from Historic Plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

Twin Sisters (Davis Homes, 845-855 West Granite)

855 (left) and 845 (right) West Granite St.

Andrew Jackson Davis Home (845 West Granite)
Built: 1890-91
Map 

The builder of this residence was the second of three Butte men of the same name. The elder A. J. Davis (1819-1890) was said to have been Butte’s first millionaire and founded the predecessor to the First National Bank of Butte in 1877. His nephew Andy, the second A. J. Davis (1863-1941), started with the bank in 1882, became president in 1890, and inherited his uncle’s fortune. Andy and his brother, John E. Davis, built these twin homes in 1891. Andy’s son, the third and youngest A. J. Davis, later lived at 805 W. Broadway. The twin residences share a sidewalk entry and a roof connecting the side porches. These common features were added some time after the original construction. Hardwood floors with inlaid border designs grace four rooms of this home and one room of its twin. A portion of this residence’s third floor was finished to serve as maids’ quarters. The elaborate two-story brick carriage house to the east features an elevator used to move carriages and sleighs to and from second-floor storage, and a groomsman’s apartment spans the front of its upper floor.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

John E. Davis Home (855 West Granite)
Built: 1890-91
Map 

A myriad of Victorian era details makes this splendid residence and its next-door neighbor, built by brothers John E. and A. J. Davis, true period showcases. Known as the "Twin Sisters," these mirror-image homes were constructed in 1891 for the handsome sum of $7,000 each. Steeply pitched roofs with front-facing gables, bay windows, and asymmetrical facades are hallmarks of the Queen Anne style. Among the many decorative elements are fish-scale shingles, elaborate bargeboards on the gable ends, and windows framed in small square lights. Turned posts and balustrades, delicate lattice-like bases, and scrolled brackets which grace the porches are fine examples of Eastlake detailing. Matching stained glass windows on the opposing sides of each home were crafted in a Tiffany glass shop once located in Butte. The original owner, grocer and hardware merchant John Davis, was an amateur painter and taxidermist who filled the home with the fruit of his talents. Following John's untimely death in 1913, his widow lived in the home until the 1940s.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

227 East Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: c. 1890
Map 

This house, one of few that survive in this part of Granite Street, had a carpenter’s shed along the alley to the rear when it was built about 1890. It has several additions, including a flat-roofed section and a gable-roofed addition on the rear, and the street-level garage is post-1916.

The original address here was 219 E. Granite, changed by 1891 to 227. Directly across the street was the first Butte High School (later Washington Junior High).

The house was owned by Julia Coughlin at least from 1906-1918, and her son William was living here when he apparently committed suicide by drinking cyanide Nov. 7, 1932, next door at 223-225 East Granite (William Rabey’s house in 1932).

Sources: Architectural inventories, Sanborn maps, city directories; Anaconda Standard, Nov. 7, 1932. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

306-308 East Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1891-1900
Map

This one-story duplex, like its neighbor down the block at 324-326, was built between 1891 and 1900. An early owner was John Gleason, a blacksmith who emigrated from Ireland in 1871 and was in Butte living in this house in 1900. His wife Mary (from Iowa of Irish parentage), four children, and roomer John Case (a miner from Maine) also lived at 306, the west part of the duplex, in 1900.

In the other part of the duplex, 308, Mrs. Bridget Brennen (or Brennan) lived with her son (Michael, a miner at the Neversweat), daughter, and six roomers – four from Ireland as Bridget was, and two of Irish parentage. She had moved to this home about 1899, shortly after her husband Patrick died. They had been in Butte since at least 1896. Even though today we think of much of this section of East Granite and Broadway as Finntown, many Irish were evidently living here as well.

Sources: Architectural inventories, Sanborn maps, city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

324-326 East Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1891-1900
Map

This house was one of four duplexes in the 300 block of East Granite, and one of two that survive, directly across the street from the Butte & Boston Company’s Blue Jay Mine. It was constructed between 1891 and 1900; in 1900, it had a full porch in contrast to the central partial one seen today. The house has a daylight basement, a central gable, and eyebrow dormers.

In 1900, the east half (326) was a dressmaking shop, according to the Sanborn map, and residence (based on city directory listings), while the west half (324) was boarding. Mrs. Sarah Cross (born New York of Irish parents) rented 324 in 1900, together with her three children, a servant, and two miners who were her boarders. At 326, the dress shop, Robert and Ida McElroy lived with a boarder, Michael Call, a miner from Michigan. Robert McElroy was a teamster (or miner) from Canada, of Irish descent, while his wife Ida was French-American from Minnesota. Thus in 1900, a total of 10 people lived in this building. Such complex living arrangements were common in Butte in the 1890s through the 1930s.

Sources: Architectural inventories, Sanborn maps, city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

350 East Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1890-91
Status: lost
Map 

This porch- and gable-fronted cottage was among the last survivors on East Granite Street, still standing in 1985, but gone today. It was a brick-veneer frame home, with a wrought-iron fence.

One of the earliest renters here was James Burton, a miner from Michigan of Scottish ancestry, and his wife Agnes, from Minnesota of Irish heritage. Burton was a miner in 1900, but in 1901 he was a policeman living here. He moved in 1902 across the street and a few doors west, to 341 E. Granite, adjacent to the Blue Jay mine yard. He continued his community service work in 1902-03 as a pipeman with Hose Company #1 and as a fireman for Hook & Ladder Co. #1.

Mrs. John Anderson lived here in 1908 when she died July 1 of scarlet fever. Toivo and Anna Saari lived in the home in the late 1950s.

The house was present when the satellite view on Google Maps was made, but was gone by the time Google Street View came to Butte about 2009; it was demolished in the spring of 2004 by the Butte Public Works Department.

Sources: Architectural inventories, Sanborn maps, city directories. Top photo from architectural inventory, probably by Mary Murphy. Small photos (before and during demolition) from Butte Public Works Dept. presentation, 2004.

Better Service Station

By Richard I. Gibson

109 N. Wyoming; 64 E. Granite
Built: 1928
Map

This is the only surviving 1920s gas station in Butte, and one of only a few in Montana. It was originally owned by J.B. Halford and R.P. Morris, who had it built in 1928 at a cost of $3,000, and ran it under the name Better Service Station. This corner held a small pre-1884 house that in 1891 was a carpenter’s shop and upholstery business. By 1916, the corner was a vacant lot, likely vacant until the gas station was built in 1928.

In 2007.

James and Mae Halford lived on the Flats at 1940 Oregon, and in addition to the service station he held a job as a lineman for the Mountain States Telephone Company in 1928. Roy and Sarah Morris lived at 1310 West Gold Street when the gas station opened in 1928.

The station was still operating in 1979, as a Conoco franchise.

Sources: Architectural inventories, Sanborn maps, city directories. Top photo from HAER survey, 1979, by Jet Lowe, from Library of Congress. 2007 photo by Richard I. Gibson.

311 West Granite (Harry D'Acheul Residence)

Built: pre-1884
Map 

A gentle arch, a simple balustrade, and a pair of sloping columns frame the entrance of this quietly elegant residence dating to the mid-1880s. An exceptional example of the hip-roofed cottage with a central gable, the well-preserved Victorian-era home appears much as it did when first owned by druggist Harry D'Acheul.

Unlike other homes in the neighborhood that share its architectural style, the fine interior furnishings here indicate that the residence was custom-built and not originally intended as a rental. An arched entryway, a square bay framed in decorative wood, and an ornamental ceiling medallion grace the formal dining room while original six-inch woodwork remains intact throughout. Also unusual for its size are the four chimneys, which serve a living room fireplace, a woodstove, the furnace, and the kitchen. D'Acheul, who lived here until the mid-1890s, no doubt found this location convenient to his wholesale and retail business at 32 North Main.

In 1902, Philomene LaChappelle, mother of Anna, lived here. Anna became W.A. Clark’s second wife circa 1901.

For most of its existence this house had 313 as its address. Some time after 309-311 West Granite became a single residence instead of a duplex, this one carried the 311 address as it does today, and there is no 313 West Granite now.

Resources: Historic plaque by Montana Historical Society; Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

314 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1884-1885
Map

John G. Hammer, bookkeeper with the John Caplice Company, built this house as a one-story residence before 1885; the early address was 163 W. Granite. Hammer established and became manager of the Butte Sewer-Pipe & Tile Company in 1889, and was successful enough that in 1899 he added the second story to his home. He continued to manage the company and live here until 1912, when he moved to Portland, Oregon where he purchased an $11,000 home at 530 East 17th Street North.

In 1910, Hammer’s daughter Florence and her husband Terry John also lived here. Florence worked as a bookkeeper for the tile company until at least 1920. Another daughter, Alberta, married William Siderfin, manager of W.A. Clark’s interests in Butte. John Hammer was secretary of the Butte Chapter of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1887, when W. A. Clark was its President. Hammer was born in Saxony, Germany, about 1849 and died about 1913. Julia, his wife, was prominent in Portland social circles and died there July 1, 1935.

In 1907, Hammer’s brick plant south of Silver Bow Creek was producing 5,500,000 bricks per year. The clay was mined locally (fireclay was mined near Whitehall after 1902), and the main plant was located west of Montana Street, west of the cemeteries south of the creek. The tile shop stood at Oregon and Second Avenue.

In 1928, Mancel (sometimes given as Myrle) Larson was living here. He was a shift boss for the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. As the Great Depression began to take its toll, large houses like this one became boarding houses. Larson began to take in boarders about 1935; in 1937, when he worked at the Emma Mine, his tenants were Maybelle Baird (widow of James), a stenographer for the Montana Service Corp., a dealer in dairy products; Katherine McDaniel (widow of John), a nurse, and her daughter Marie, a student at Butte Business College; Maud Maloney (widow of William); and Helen Curtis (widow of Charles), head of the County Child Welfare Department.  By 1940 all but Baird were still living here, and Walter Thomas; Ray and Lumina Rowan (a salesman and cosmetics representative, respectively); Wendell and Ardell Peck (he was another salesman); and Violet Blecka all called this house their home as well.

Even in 1948, at least nine people lived here: Ernestine and Clifford (ACM mining engineer) Clifton; Alta Spain (public school teacher); Hazel Andrus (cashier, Finlen Hotel); Beatrice and Hal Hennigh (beauty parlor operator and barber); Jean and Ivan Nevans (he was a clerk); and Alyce O'Connor, a nurse at St. James Hospital.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; Brick and Clay Record, Volumes 26-27, June 1907, article by J.P. Rowe, p. 291; Anaconda Standard newspapers; AIME Transactions, 1887; Progressive Men of the State of Montana (1901). Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

318 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1884-1888
Map

This Italianate home complements the larger, but similar one across the street. 318 West Granite was built between 1884 and 1888, and was home to John Wesley Reed, a dentist with an office on the second floor of the building on the southeast corner of Main and Broadway (parking lot north of BS Café today) in the late 1880s and early 1890s. By 1900 his office was 115 N. Main, the second floor of the Dellinger Block. He continued to live at this house until after 1900, but was not listed in Butte in 1910.

Dr. Reed was born March 27, 1838, in Boone County, Missouri. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1877, and practiced a few years in Mexico, Missouri, where he served in various officer positions with the Missouri State Dental Association. Reed came to Butte in 1882, and was the first President of the Montana Dental Association.

The address of this house is sometimes listed as 316.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; Biographies of the founders, prominent early members and ex-presidents of the Missouri State Dental Association, by Burton Thorpe (1909) - source of photo of Reed. House photo by Richard I. Gibson.

310-312 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: pre-1884; enlarged 1888-90
Map

The western half of this house (312) was constructed before 1884 as a small home with a Mansard roof and stone basement. It was owned initially by Butte City Attorney Howard B. Smith, who lived here when the address scheme had it as 161 West Granite. The house was doubled in size between 1888 and 1890 by the addition to the east (310) and the filling out of the second floor, making the building into a duplex.

Advertisement from 1910.

The James Lynch family lived at 310 in 1907; Mrs. Lynch was active in the Ladies Aid Society of the Welsh Church. From before 1907 to the late 1920s, 312 was the home of Mary and Hayes Cannon. Hayes was a partner with Archibald McMillan, “Real Estate Etc.,” with offices at 1 West Broadway (the First National Bank building). The Cannons’ daughter, Edna, was married to Frank German in this house Oct. 6, 1908; the ceremony was performed by Pastor E.J. Groeneveld of the First Presbyterian Church. Hayes died about 1927 and Mary continued to live here at least until 1937.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; Anaconda Standard newspapers. McMillan and Cannon ad from 1910 City Directory. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

309 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: pre-1884
Map 

The elegant Mansard roof on this home marks it as French Second Empire style. It was constructed as a two-story duplex home before 1884. In the early 1890s tailor Walfred Hoover lived in the western unit (then addressed 311). He worked for Henry Jonas, a merchant tailor with a shop at 126 North Main, where part of the Hennessy Building stands today.

Patrick Conlon, proprietor of the Arcade Chop House, purchased this house in 1889. It is not clear whether or not he lived here initially, because his address is listed at 518 North Main at least through 1900, but from before 1910 until his death Conlon lived in this house. He died at home here May 17, 1921, after a short illness, at age 83. Conlon was close friends with Marcus Daly, James Murray, John Maguire, and other prominent Butte pioneers.

Patrick Conlon was an Irish patriot and member of the Robert Emmet Literary Association in Butte, a revolutionary organization fighting for Irish independence. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1838, and emigrated to the United States in 1853 at age 15. He traveled by steamboat up the Missouri to Ft. Benton, arriving in Montana July 4, 1864, and came to Butte in 1878. He was a founder of the Butte Branch of the Irish National League of America in 1883. Conlon donated $20.00 in 1885 to the Parnell Fund, a response to Charles Parnell’s visit to America promoting Irish home rule. That was at a time when $20 would have bought at lest 40 really good dinners in a high-end restaurant.

The Arcade Chop House was a restaurant on North Main, in existence by 1878 when John Mann was proprietor. Conlon apparently managed it through most of the 1880s, until 1889 when Henry Mueller & Co. took over. Mueller held various offices with the Centennial Brewing Company and was Butte Mayor in 1891. The Arcade Chop House addresses, variously 209 or 269 Main, and 31 North Main, probably reflect the same location, with the changes due to alterations in the address scheme. I believe the location was in the middle of the block between Park and Broadway, on the west side, where the 1891 Avalon Block (former print shop) stands today. That was the 200 block in the 1880s. It is possible that the shop began in a building nearer the corner of Broadway (where the D.A. Davidson building is today) and moved a few doors south by 1889, but in any case the original building or buildings that housed the chop shop are gone today.

This house was restored about 2005. It suffered minor damage in the 2008 fire that destroyed 307 West Granite, next door to the east.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; The Butte Irish, by David Emmons, p. 303; History of Montana 1739-1885, by Michael Leeson (1885); Anaconda Standard, May 17, 1921, obituary. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

308 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1884-1888
Map 

This Italianate style home was built between 1884 and 1888 for Thomas Fletcher, a bookkeeper with the Clark and Larabie Bank (southwest corner of Broadway and Main).

By 1888, all the houses on the south side of the 300 block of Granite Street had been constructed, and all six survive today.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

305 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: by 1884
Map 

Alfred Holmes, manager of the Butte Trading Company, was an early owner and resident here. The house was built by 1884, and the enclosed front porch is a relatively modern addition.

The Butte Trading Company was a hardware business. On August 11, 1890, Shelley Tuttle purchased the stock of goods and merchandise of the Butte Trading Company for $47,000. The Tuttle Company was a foundry, but expanded into other businesses in the 1890s. It was ultimately merged into the Anaconda Company’s foundry, which in turn became the Anaconda Foundry and Fabricating Company, or AFFCO, which exists today.

Following the takeover of Butte Trading by Tuttle, Alfred Holmes served as Tuttle’s manager in the early and mid-1890s when he lived in this house. Tuttle’s main office and store was in the 300 block of North Main at that time.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; AFFCO history. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

304 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: by 1884
Map

This was William Thompson’s home, built by him circa 1884. He was born in Ontario, Canada, March 1, 1838, was in Virginia City, MT in 1863, and moved to Butte in 1879, the year the city was incorporated. He established the Butte Lumber Yard (219 S. Montana, the entire block between Galena and Mercury on the west side of Montana Street) and by 1891 was Vice-President and General Manager of the Montana Lumber & Manufacturing Company. Together with his sons he started the Thompson Investment Company in 1889, a building company that erected many of the small homes in Butte. He served as Butte’s mayor in 1895-97, and was also a territorial and state legislator, helping draft the Montana state constitution. By 1900, he was living with his son James at 1101 Caledonia. He died May 15, 1900.

Mining claims south of Butte owned by the Thompson family were donated to the city of Butte by Col. William Boyce Thompson, in honor of his father, William Thompson. The son had been raised in Butte and founded the Newmont Mining Co., a global mining company still in existence today. Thompson Park was officially designated as a park in 1915.

The street face of this house retains its original geometry, including the porch.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; Thompson Family History; and “2012-07-26 Thompson Park Grand Re-Opening,” by US Forest Service. Image of Thompson from History of Montana, 1739-1885, by Michael Leeson (1885). Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

307 West Granite

307 West Granite, at right. This is a vacant lot today.

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1899
Status: lost (2008 fire)
Map

Patrick Deloughry, a carpenter at the East Gem Mine, built this house to replace a pre-1888 single-story brick veneered home that stood here. Deloughry lived almost across the alley behind this site, at 310 West Quartz Street.

William Waugh, a lawyer, and Jeanne Stewart, an art teacher, lived here at least from 1928 until 1937. After World War II, the house was converted to apartments, and in 1948-49 at least 13 people lived in this home. They included Pearl Rowe (widow of James); Lois Johnson (dictaphone operator for the Texas Company, dealer in oil and lubricants); David Bell (miner); Corrine Gutz (widow of Walter, she was head of the ACM Publicity and Information Office); Ole Nelson (steward, Eagles Club); Martin Makeli (student); Mable Fletcher (practical nurse); Kate & James Rockefeller (he was a clerk); Margaret & Henry Freudenstein (another clerk); William Dagg (an announcer); and William Graham (cook at the Finlen Hotel).

In 2008, ten tenants were occupying eight apartment units when a smoldering cigarette started a fire that destroyed the building on July 29. Estimated rebuilding costs of more than $500,000 were not covered by insurance, and the building was demolished.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories; online record of law suit between owner and insurance company. Photos by Richard I. Gibson.

406 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1898
Map

This house was constructed in 1898 by the Thompson Investment Company, which built many of the smaller miner’s cottages and other homes in developing Butte. The front porch, which formerly extended the width of the building, was added before 1916.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

409 West Granite

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1897
Map

This house replaced a single-story frame building that had stood here at least since 1888. The original owner was H.C. Hopkins, although he appears to have died or left Butte by 1900. There were other Hopkins nearby; Olivia, widow of Robert P. Hopkins, lived at 413 West Granite at least from 1893 to 1899 when she moved to San Francisco. Since there is no 413 West Granite address, and because the address scheme changed during the 1890s, it is possible that Olivia and Robert actually lived at the 409 address. More research is needed on the Hopkins family of West Granite Street.

Behind this house, on the alley, in 1888 were two large “stove warehouses” that belonged to William Jack, a dealer in stoves, hardware, and pumps who lived at 403-405 West Granite. In 1890, a carpenter’s shop (possibly moved from the rear of 411 W. Granite) and alley dwelling stood behind this home, and from some time before 1916 until after 1957, five tin-clad “cabins”  were in the back portion of this lot on the alley, addressed 409½ and presumably crude dwellings of some sort. They were “vacant and dilapidated” in 1951 and 1957.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

411 West Granite

 

By Richard I. Gibson

Built: 1884-1888

Map

This Second Empire style home was among the earlier houses built this far west on Granite Street, erected between 1884 and 1888. The original owner, who built it for himself, was contractor James D. Jenks. From the beginning the house was two flats, one upstairs and one down, and there was also an alley house behind this building, addressed 411½. Built about 1890, the latter replaced a carriage house and carpenter’s shop that stood on the alley in 1888. That alley dwelling was gone by 1951 and the duplex carried the two addresses, 411 and 411½, as it does today.

Resources: Architectural inventory; Sanborn Maps; city directories. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.