71-73 East Park (Chester Block)

By Linda Albright

Built: 1917-18
Architect: James C. Teague
Map

Teamsters Hall, c. 1942

Businessman Charles Steele financed the $4,500 construction costs of this exceptional commercial block, designed by Butte architect James C. Teague, in 1917 (completed 1918). The building is architecturally significant for its striking terra cotta ornamentation and historically important as the founding site of the Teamsters Union Local No. 2. This powerful group held its first meetings in the upstairs hall until they built their own building on Harrison Avenue.

The building’s upper story, with its multi-light windows, terra cotta quoins, decorative name plate, and cornice, remains in pristine condition. Terra cotta, here painted cream-color in stunning contrast with the red brick, is a feature seldom seen in Butte. The original mosaic-tiled floor spans the length of the three ground-floor entrances. Whitehead’s cutlery shop has occupied one of the two commercial spaces for many years, while the other once housed a mortuary.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s the Rumpus Room occupied the upper floor. The northeast portion of the top floor sported a bar, with the remainder of the floor dedicated to tables, chairs, and a large dance floor. At that time, entrance to the bar was from the alley. Prior to opening in the Chester Block in 1963, the Rumpus Room was located at 2 South Main St., below the Rialto Theater (demolished in 1965).


Resources: Expanded from historic plaque by Montana Historical Society. Historic photo from FSA/OWI collection (public domain), c. 1942; newspaper photo from Butte Miner, March 24, 1918; modern photo by Linda Albright.

Uptown YMCA

2004

By Tiffany Nitschke

405 W. Park (also 401-405-407 W. Park)
Architect: Floyd Hamill
Map

The uptown YMCA is located at 405 West Park Street. The earliest attempts to establish a YMCA in Butte were made before the turn of the 20th Century. A fundraising campaign was initiated and within a few months enough money was raised to finance the construction of a six-story building.

Butte Miner, June 8, 1917

Ground was broken June 7, 1917 ( a day before the Granite Mountain Mine disaster) and the $350,000 building opened in 1919. The rectangular structure with a built-up flat roof has a granite-veneered foundation and is of solid masonry construction with brick siding. There are combination stone lintels and keystone with stone sills. Tuscan columns support a balustrade which fronts a window framed by a broken pediment over the main Park Street entrance. One- to three-story windows have a complete molding, while the one- to two-story windows are connected with a stone panel.

The architect for the building was Floyd Hamill of Butte, but the design and focus originated from an unnamed firm which designed and built YMCA buildings throughout the world for the Association. Contractors were the local firm of Nelson and Peterson. Floyd Hamill was a respected local architect, whose work in 1917 and 1918 included Deaconess Hospital, St. John the Evangelist and St. Anne's Catholic Churches, and a residence for the sisters of St. Joseph's parish.

The landmark YMCA building included a bowling alley, a temperance bar, dormitory rooms, a pool, a court carpeted running track, and a two-story gymnasium. The YMCA also included a library that was specially wired to accommodate a "moving motion picture machine" for use by mine rescue and first-aid personnel. Following early 20th Century conventions, boys and men were strictly segregated as the North Washington Street entry inscription, "Boys Entrance," demonstrates.

In 1986, a successful campaign resulted in the purchase of The Courtrooms, on the Flats, to which the YMCA moved. That location is now a private racquetball court. In 2005, the uptown YMCA was acquired by the Butte-Silver Bow Arts Foundation, but the expenses of repairs and heating bills were overwhelming, and the building was vacant for several years until 2013 when it was purchased by Peter and Stephanie Sorini of Butte, who plan to remodel it for lodgings, shops, and other diverse uses. News story

Resources: Historic plaque by Montana Historical Society; text modified from Butte CPR; photo (2004) by Richard Gibson.

201 North Excelsior Avenue (Scovil Residence)

Built: 1917
Map

John Scovil worked as a watchman for the Anaconda Company after he first arrived in Montana in 1884. He opened a laundry in 1894; six years later he purchased the Union Laundry in Butte. By 1911, Scovil and a partner owned almost all of the laundries in Butte and employed approximately 175 people. Scovil also invested widely in real estate. He built this two-and-one-half-story monument to his success, along with the duplex next door, in 1917 for the considerable sum of $19,800. Behind the residences was a two-story garage with an apartment on the second floor. The elegant garage may have reflected John’s wife Lalia’s interest in motoring; Lalia was thought to be the first woman in Montana to own and drive her own automobile. A dark brown brick veneer and repeating architectural details visually connect the three buildings. Lalia assumed presidency of the Scovil-owned Taylor Laundry Company after John died in 1925, remarrying in 1927. She continued to live here with her second husband, attorney Laurence Myers, until her death in 1942.

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

501 West Granite (Mueller Apartments)

Built: 1917
Architect: Jesse M. Wamen; builder: Clifton Applegate
Map

Turn-of-the-century critics called apartment living “a shortcut . . . to the divorce court.” These moralists believed that the proximity of bedrooms to living areas—and the easy access to both by neighbors—encouraged promiscuity, while apartment dwellers’ limited housekeeping duties encouraged a dangerous lack of domesticity among wives. Nevertheless, apartments increasingly attracted middle-class residents, particularly young, childless couples, older couples whose children had grown, and bachelors and working women, who didn’t need as much space as larger families.

White-collar workers occupied the five-story, fifty-five-unit Mueller Apartments, built in 1917 as an investment by A. H. Mueller, president of Centennial Brewing Company. It cost $175,000 in dollars of the day, and was open for occupancy on March 10, 1918. The building incorporates Italian Renaissance style design elements: a symmetrical façade, a rusticated first story, keystone arches over the first-floor windows, and paired brackets and dentils under the cornice. Stained glass windows decorate the front entrance while a belt course and a distinct window pattern distinguish the fifth-floor penthouse apartments. These elegant, yet restrained architectural details announce the building’s respectability and, by extension, the respectability of its tenants, who included teachers, a doctor, salesclerks, accountants, and business owners.

The Mueller contained 38 two-room and 16 three-room apartments when completed. They included kitchenettes, bathrooms, and a "Murphy-in-a-door" bed. Every apartment had outside windows, and the building's hallways were finished in mahogany. The basement contained a ballroom, laundry facilities, and storage.

Reno Sales, Chief Geologist and Chief Mining Engineer for the Anaconda Company, lived in Apartment 507 here in 1928.

Text expanded from historic plaque by Montana Historical Society. Additional resource: Anaconda Standard, March 3, 1918 (source of old photo). Modern photo by Richard Gibson.