827 West Park

Built: 1897
Map 

Emerson B. Weirick purchased the land to build this home in 1897 for a total of thirty dollars. Construction of the residence began that same year. Preeminent Butte architect W. A. O’Brien designed the home and Fergus Kelley served as contractor. O’Brien and Kelley teamed up on the construction of a number of Butte’s commercial landmarks and most prestigious homes including the C. F. Kelley mansion next door to the west. Weirick’s elegant, finely detailed home fit his social status as vice president of the First National Bank. The residence is an excellent example of turn-of-the-century transitional architecture. Tuscan columns, dentils framing the porch, and wide overhanging eaves reflect the newer classical trend. The irregular floorplan, bay window, floral-patterned stained glass, and varied surface treatments are characteristic of the Victorian-era Queen Anne style. Stunning views of the city with the mountains beyond and a desirable southern exposure made this stretch of West Park Street highly preferred.

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

111 North Montana (School District #1 Administration Building)

Built: 1920
Architect: William O’Brien
Map 

William A. O’Brien, architect of the Leonard Apartments and the Kelly and Hennessy mansions, designed this handsome building of brown brick veneer in 1919. In 1920, the offices of District #1 moved from their longtime quarters at Butte High School to the new facility. At that time, Superintendent W. E. Maddock administered twenty-four schools including the high school, a junior high school, an industrial school, seventeen elementary schools, and four ungraded rural schools. The 311 district employees, 286 of them women, served a total of 19,296 students.

This familiar Butte landmark, significant for its attractive architecture as well as its long service, well represents the solid foundations of Butte’s public school system. Doric columns and an eighteen-light transom frame the entrance, while glazed terra cotta finishes the multi-paned windows, cornice, and parapet. The building’s historic appearance extends to its well-maintained interior, which features the original plaster walls and oak trim.

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

25 East Granite (The Napton)

Built: 1906
Architect: W.A. O’Brien
Map

A grand arched entryway topped by a wooden bracketed cornice and ornate iron rail welcomes visitors to the Napton. Because downtown apartment buildings were a hallmark of big cities like New York and Chicago, construction of the Napton Apartments in 1906 contributed to Butte’s image as a booming metropolis. Its construction also reflected investor confidence in Butte’s future, confidence justified by more than $3 million worth of building projects undertaken that year. The 1906 boom resulted in part from settlements of lawsuits in the War of the Copper Kings, freeing up investment money. The year is emblazoned in four separate medallions on the upper façade of the Napton.

Architect W. A. O’Brien designed and oversaw construction of the four-story, three-bay, 48-unit apartment building. As expected, the Napton soon became home to members of Butte’s professional class from teachers and mining engineers to business owners and stenographers. Judge George M. Bourquin, who lived here in room 211 from 1915 through 1939, was undoubtedly the Napton’s most renowned resident. Appointed to the federal bench from 1912 to 1934, Bourquin was a courageous defender of individual civil liberties in the face of the mass hysteria that swept the country during World War I. His decisions, highly controversial at the time, upheld such rights as freedom of expression and protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Bourquin and his wife Hazel also maintained a home at 223 N. Excelsior Street in the late 1920s.

Modified from historic plaque text by Montana Historical Society. Photos by Richard Gibson.

Leonard Hotel (205 W. Granite)

By Irene Scheidecker

Built: 1906
Architect: William A. O’Brien
Map

Turn-of-the-twentieth-century social critics viewed apartment living as “the most dangerous enemy American domesticity has had to encounter.” Nonetheless, construction on the Leonard was begun in March of 1906 as Butte was experiencing an economic boom, and there was a great demand for rental units in the growing city. The site chosen for the Leonard was considered excellent at the time of its construction: "It is close enough to the business district to be convenient, and yet far enough out to be in the fashionable residence district." (Butte Miner, March 25, 1906).

The Leonard was built from the start to house several classes of tenants. The spacious front apartments for wealthier tenants had extremely tiny kitchens; as the building featured a dining parlor in the basement, it was assumed tenants would take their meals there. In 1910, the Leonard Cafe advertised that it was “the best place in Butte to dine.” Patrons could enjoy a complete dinner for fifty cents. The apartments in the center of the building for middle-class tenants included full bathrooms and moderately-sized kitchens. At the rear of the building, apartments consisted of a single room with a closet and a sink; bathrooms were shared with other tenants. Many of the tenants in earlier years were single women: store clerks, teachers, and nurses. The Leonard was considered very respectable housing.

The building is not quite square with Granite Street. As with many lots and a few buildings in Butte, the front (south) side follows a mining claim, which is not quite coincident with the modern street edge. The photo above shows the asymmetrical cornice, which reflects this history. The cornice has been refurbished and repainted since this photo was taken, but the geometry remains the same as when the building was erected.

The myth that Marcus Daly had the Leonard built to block the view of his nemesis, William Clark, whose mansion stands next door, is untrue. When the Leonard was built in 1906, Daly had been dead for 6 years and Clark was seldom at the mansion, as he was a Senator in Washington, D.C. 


Resource: Historic plaque by Montana Historical Society; 1906 newspapers; property records. Photos by Richard Gibson.