Largey Flats (403-407 W. Broadway)

Built: c. 1895
Map 

Patrick A. Largey, Butte’s “fourth copper king,” got his start freighting goods into early-day Virginia City. After he settled in Butte, Largey’s many business interests included founding both the Inter-Mountain newspaper and the State Savings Bank. The Largey family, whose opulent mansion once stood next door on the corner, suffered a tragedy in 1898 when miner Thomas Riley murdered Largey at his bank. Riley had lost a leg in the cataclysmic 1895 explosion in Butte’s railroad yards that claimed 58 lives. Because Largey’s hardware company owned one of the buildings involved in the blast, Riley held Largey responsible for his injuries. The Largey family built these flats in the 1890s where many of Butte’s wealthier families stayed while looking for permanent housing. Built by contractor Moses Bassett, the stunning multi-family residence is styled after an Italian villa with tile roofs, portico, and arched entrances. Egg-and-dart moldings, corner window tiles, garland reliefs, and stained and beveled glass embellish the façade. Each of the three, two-story “townhouses” is exquisitely finished with rich wood wainscoting and an oak staircase.

The Largey home itself, much grander than Largey Flats, stood to the east until it burned down about 1965.

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

832 West Park

Built: c. 1895
Map 

Jennie Tallant, a founding member of the Montana Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and her husband, Walter, were early residents of this home. Named first regent of the Silver Bow DAR chapter in 1897, Jennie became the third state regent in 1901. This home was the site of many DAR meetings, including the State Society’s first meeting in 1904. For that occasion, Mrs. Tallant decorated the home “in flags and the national colors, with a profusion of flowers.” Nationally, the DAR was founded in 1890 out of a concern that immigration was diluting American values. The society worked to promote patriotism, education, and an appreciation of American history. Among other projects, the State Society spearheaded recognition of historic sites. Important for its DAR connection, this home, built between 1890 and 1898, is also architecturally significant. Its irregular shape, leaded glass, ornate transoms, and ornamental iron fence associate it with the popular Queen Anne style. The classical style front porch was added after 1916. In 1928, painter John Redman and his wife Mary purchased the home, which remains in the Redman family.

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

823 West Park

Built: c. 1895
Map 

James H. Lynch was a man of many hats. Lumber, livery, mine development, hotel management, and wholesale liquor are but a few of his successful business ventures. A founder of the Silver Bow National Bank, Lynch also owned substantial Butte real estate and served terms as alderman and city council president. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland appointed Lynch postmaster of Butte, and he served a four-year term. Although James and Mary Lynch had no children, they opened their home to a niece and nephew, who lived with them in 1900. A turn-of-the-century biographer noted, “In their beautiful home in Butte, Mr. and Mrs. Lynch evince a truly western hospitality.” The 1890s residence, built as the twin of its next door neighbor, is little altered. Elegant period details include a pedimented porch trimmed in dentils, Tuscan columns, and miniaturized classical motifs on the entry door. An ornamental iron fence, crafted by the Butte Carriage Works, fronts the property.

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

801 North Montana

Built: 1895
Map 

Members of the intertwined Sullivan and Hogan families shared this two-story residence as early as 1895. The early, wood-frame home originally had a small porch to the north of the large bay window; the full-length front porch was added between 1901 and 1916. Joseph Hogan was a member of Montana's first constitutional convention and Montana’s first state mining inspector, but the 1895 city directory listed him and his brothers-in-law, Eugene and Daniel Sullivan, as miners.

When Joseph died in 1900, Daniel was working as county deputy treasurer; his sister Margaret (Joseph's widow) continued to live with him. So did her four children, ages one, three, four, and seven. A teacher before her marriage, Margaret returned to the classroom after Joseph's death. In 1906, eight years before Montana women received the right to vote in general elections, she was elected County Superintendent of Schools, the only elected position women were allowed to hold. Margaret's daughter Maybelle followed in her mother's footsteps, becoming a teacher and then, for almost forty years, the county school superintendent. Maybelle remained in residence until her death in 1970.

Resource: historic plaque by Montana Historical Society. 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.

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.

803 West Park

Built: 1895
Map

The Queen Anne style is beautifully expressed in this fashionable “gay nineties” residence of Arthur H. Mueller, longtime president of the Centennial Brewing Company. Built in 1895, it was also home to Mueller’s in-laws, police court judge James C. Sullivan and his wife, Margaret. Two turrets, a wraparound porch, oriel and polygonal bay windows, and a gabled roof accentuate the asymmetry that is characteristic of the style. Scrolled brackets, Tuscan columns, and arched windows with stone sills enhance the brick-veneered façade, while an ashlar retaining wall topped by a vintage iron fence encloses the prominent corner lot.

Original interior appointments such as elegant mahogany stairwork, woodwork, and columns rival those found in the mansions of the famed copper kings. Pocket doors and the original iridescent amber glass and brass lighting fixtures grace the formal first-floor rooms. A beautiful hand-painted mural in the dining room depicts a river scene so skillfully executed that the water appears to flow through the room and out one wall.

A.H. Mueller built the Mueller Apartments in 1917 as an investment.

Text from historic plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard Gibson.