Three of Montana’s most interesting settlements, Philipsburg, Anaconda and Butte, are found in the same small region of the state with a mere 50 or so miles separating Philipsburg, the most westerly of the three, from Butte, the most easterly.
Philipsburg is the county seat for Granite County and therefore has a courthouse, which we entered to admire the unpretentious interior. The town’s population is officially over 800 and therefore quite substantial by the standards of the region. Philipsburg owes its existence to mining (a few ghost towns, Granite included, lie nearby) and is named after Philip Deidesheimer, who designed and supervised the construction of the ore smelter around which the town originally grew. Almost 97% of the population defines itself as white.
Granite County Courthouse, Philipsburg, Montana
Philipsburg, Montana
Philipsburg was founded in 1867 and grew very rapidly. By the end of the year, it had a population of about 1,500. The surrounding hills still display the scars that facilitated the production of large amounts of silver, manganese, sapphire and, to a lesser extent, gold.
Philipsburg has taken great care to preserve its past, so much so that it is a popular destination for people passing through or staying a few nights. It has a very attractive main street called Broadway. This means that some aspects of the town are designed primarily to appeal to tourists and visitors, but Philipsburg is just big enough to have a more routine and everyday existence, one most apparent among the houses along the paved and unpaved residential streets overlooking Broadway. In this residential area is the Sanctuary, perhaps the most remarkable lodgings we saw during the five weeks of our trip.
Philipsburg, Montana
In 1891, Reverend Samuel Wishard established a permanent Presbyterian congregation in Philipsburg. Members of the congregation held services and Sunday school in the schoolhouse until the summer of 1893 when the town’s Presbyterian church was completed. Services in the church continued until 1990 when the building was sold to a private owner. The current owner, Dave Chappell, has restored the outside, converted the interior into two bedrooms with en suite facilities and built two cabins in the garden. The former church is now the Sanctuary. The bedrooms and cabins can be hired by the night. Overnight guests have access to a beautiful veranda, garden and lounge. Chappell has richly embellished the interior with delightful pieces of furniture, ornaments and works of art.
The Sanctuary, Philipsburg, Montana
Externally, the most notable feature of the one-time church is its unusual hexagonal copper dome and intricate scrollwork, which easily make the steeple the most distinctive in the town. Gothic windows with tracery, lancet openings and a round window embellish the simple frame façade. Known locally as the White Church, the building lies along Church Row north of Broadway.
The Sanctuary, Philipsburg, Montana
This remarkable building aside, there is plenty to admire along or just off Broadway. Look out for a micro-brewery, a museum, an opera house that still functions as a theatre (we met an actor getting ready to perform a play in late July. He had worked in London for the National Theatre. He worked for the National Theatre primarily because he could convincingly reproduce a large number of American accents), many stone and brick buildings with carefully carved wooden embellishments, ghost signs, painted adverts, a candy store said to have the largest stock of sweet things in the region, and a very good diner and soda fountain.
The diner and soda fountain had recently been taken over by a very friendly couple from Texas. We chatted with the couple as we sat at the counter consuming excellent root beer floats. We also had a good chat with staff in the courthouse who directed us to the nearby jail. The jail has a tower and in the window of the tower is a hangman’s noose.
Philipsburg, Montana
Today, Anaconda is most famous for the very tall smoke stack surviving from the time when the town was, in common with so many other settlements in the region, an important mining centre. Built in 1919, the smoke stack is 585 feet tall. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest masonry chimney and brickwork structure of any kind in the world. It remains the world’s tallest and possibly largest free-standing such structure anywhere. The inside diameter of the stack is 75 feet at the bottom and 60 feet at the top. The wall thickness tapers from 6 feet at the bottom to 2 feet at the top. Built by a company with offices in New York, the stack was designed to discharge exhaust gases from the different roasting and smelting furnaces at the town’s smelter. It is situated on the top of a hill. The smelter had a large network of flues from the furnaces that all fed a single main flue. The main flue carried the exhaust gases half a mile up the hill to the stack. The smelter at Anaconda was demolished after its closure in 1981, but the stack was retained.
Smoke stack, Anaconda, Montana
As would be expected, the land around the smoke stack was thoroughly cleaned following the demolition of the smelter. Today, a golf course called Old Works occupies part of the smelter’s site.
Anaconda has an official population of about 9,000 people, thereby making it the ninth or tenth largest settlement in Montana, which emphasises how small the state’s total population is. Main Street is a delight because it has dozens of landmark buildings. Such buildings include Deer Lodge County Courthouse; Hearst Free Library; Club Moderne (as its name implies, Club Moderne was designed in art moderne style); Washoe Theatre (among other things, note the brick patterns on the exterior); City Hall (this is now a museum and art centre); a large old hotel (although currently empty, the hotel will eventually be restored to its former glory); many commercial buildings, some with ghost signs and painted adverts; and two motels with plenty of character. The railroad also has a presence. It links the town with nearby Butte, but we do not know how often it is used, if it is used at all.
Hearst Free Library, Anaconda, Montana
Washoe Theatre, Anaconda, Montana
Anaconda, Montana
Anaconda, Montana
The architecturally significant part of Butte was so large that I could not possibly do as I really wanted to do, which was walk around every block in the historic district, but I saw as many blocks as I could, both to the west and east of Montana Street. Although familiar with many of the landmark buildings because of a prior visit, I came across some different ones. Walking along the back alleys, there were ghost signs, painted adverts and unusual views of tall or bulky structures. For the afternoon and evening, I concentrated on the blocks east of Montana Street, but the following morning, I spent most time west of Montana where some of Butte’s most elegant houses had survived from the past. It was great to be back. One aspect of the town we liked the best was a visit to Quarry Brewing. Since our last visit, the brewery had moved to better premises.
Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Finlen Hotel, Butte Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
If you have enjoyed this post and wish to see a few more photos of Butte, visit the blog entitled “In Search of Unusual Destinations” where you will find a post called “Shelby, Kalispell and Butte, Montana, USA”.
The USA: Landscapes and Urban Spaces 