A day in Butte
Old mining towns often have their issues, but
Butte's issues go far beyond that.
"Uptown Butte", as the downtown area's called
('cause it's up on the side of a hill), feels almost like a Hollywood backlot
where period buildings have been erected, used, modified to suit other purposes,
used again, maybe altered yet again, and then finally neglected until needed at
some other time. Part of this "backlot" feeling probably also comes from the
fact that the majority of the town is still intact - hanging on from its boom
period in the '20's and '30's (World War I was particularly good to Butte) - but
the population has dwindled down from the over 100,000 from that period to the
roughly 33,000 people who live here now. Everything feels empty. Large
multi-storey buildings will house a single store on the ground level while the
rest of the building sits in decay. Very
strange.
A brief history of Butte: Established for gold and silver mining in the mid-1800's, Butte was a typical mining town consisting primarily of tents and tenuous wooden structures. In 1879, a fire burned down the entire business district, so the city council passed laws mandating structures to be built only out of brick or stone. This explains why so much of the city is still intact. It also had a notorious red light district on Wyoming Street and was home to a massive number of Irish and Chinese immigrants explaining all of the Irish names and pubs in the town. With the birth of electricity and the need for copper wire, Butte, due to the massive copper deposits here, was suddenly on the map. By World War I, it was known as "the richest hill on earth" and, due to the fact that rifle bullet casings are made of copper, Butte became the most prosperous city in all of the U.S. The Great depression led to a decline in demand for minerals and in 1955, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company decided to abandon its costly mining practices and start pit and strip mining. Well, that was kind of the end for Butte.
"The richest hill on earth" is now the ugliest and sits overlooking the city as a sad reminder of abuse and decay. The nearby Berkeley Pit is horribly contaminated and is the most costly site in the Superfund (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act established to deal with environmental disasters). The contamination is so bad that, after a flock of migrating geese decided to nest there and died soon after, a loudspeaker system was set-up to discourage any other animals from hanging around the area. It's a sort of mineral version of Chernobyl where very little can be done to fix the problem short of keeping people and animals away. Ironically, the Berkeley Pit is one of the area's largest tourist attractions.
Another thing that's unhealthy here is the food. I was told by a local that I absolutely had to try the local delicacy, a fried pork chop sandwich. If tonight's blog entry is a little dull and stodgy, it's because I'm feeling dull and stodgy... but if you're ever in Butte, you've got to have one.
I spent the afternoon snapping a few pictures. We leave in the morning and should be spending tomorrow night in Canada if we're not detained by Canadian customs for too long.
I'm going to go and sleep off my fried pork chop sandwich.
This beer was only made from 1937 to 1942, probably because the can looked like it contained motor oil.
As far as I can tell, the "drive-in" cleaners is still in business.
The not-quite-so grand hotel.
They DO have plumbing and heating, though.
That's got to be worth a diamond in the AAA guide.
Mining towers are visible from everywhere in the city.
Just a really unfortunate name.
Since 1897 and still going strong! I wonder how they succeeded where so many others failed.
Butte is almost picturesque from certain angles... kinda like some girls I've dated.
It's like living history. People live in the old mining houses below the mine tower.
"The richest hill on earth" is now the ugliest.
Butte from a distance.
The Berkeley Pit is bad, but John's is a ticking ecological timebomb... or is that gutbomb?
That's what I'm talking about - fried pork chop sandwich!
A brief history of Butte: Established for gold and silver mining in the mid-1800's, Butte was a typical mining town consisting primarily of tents and tenuous wooden structures. In 1879, a fire burned down the entire business district, so the city council passed laws mandating structures to be built only out of brick or stone. This explains why so much of the city is still intact. It also had a notorious red light district on Wyoming Street and was home to a massive number of Irish and Chinese immigrants explaining all of the Irish names and pubs in the town. With the birth of electricity and the need for copper wire, Butte, due to the massive copper deposits here, was suddenly on the map. By World War I, it was known as "the richest hill on earth" and, due to the fact that rifle bullet casings are made of copper, Butte became the most prosperous city in all of the U.S. The Great depression led to a decline in demand for minerals and in 1955, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company decided to abandon its costly mining practices and start pit and strip mining. Well, that was kind of the end for Butte.
"The richest hill on earth" is now the ugliest and sits overlooking the city as a sad reminder of abuse and decay. The nearby Berkeley Pit is horribly contaminated and is the most costly site in the Superfund (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act established to deal with environmental disasters). The contamination is so bad that, after a flock of migrating geese decided to nest there and died soon after, a loudspeaker system was set-up to discourage any other animals from hanging around the area. It's a sort of mineral version of Chernobyl where very little can be done to fix the problem short of keeping people and animals away. Ironically, the Berkeley Pit is one of the area's largest tourist attractions.
Another thing that's unhealthy here is the food. I was told by a local that I absolutely had to try the local delicacy, a fried pork chop sandwich. If tonight's blog entry is a little dull and stodgy, it's because I'm feeling dull and stodgy... but if you're ever in Butte, you've got to have one.
I spent the afternoon snapping a few pictures. We leave in the morning and should be spending tomorrow night in Canada if we're not detained by Canadian customs for too long.
I'm going to go and sleep off my fried pork chop sandwich.
This beer was only made from 1937 to 1942, probably because the can looked like it contained motor oil.
As far as I can tell, the "drive-in" cleaners is still in business.
The not-quite-so grand hotel.
They DO have plumbing and heating, though.
That's got to be worth a diamond in the AAA guide.
Mining towers are visible from everywhere in the city.
Just a really unfortunate name.
Since 1897 and still going strong! I wonder how they succeeded where so many others failed.
Butte is almost picturesque from certain angles... kinda like some girls I've dated.
It's like living history. People live in the old mining houses below the mine tower.
"The richest hill on earth" is now the ugliest.
Butte from a distance.
The Berkeley Pit is bad, but John's is a ticking ecological timebomb... or is that gutbomb?
That's what I'm talking about - fried pork chop sandwich!
Posted: Wed - December 14, 2005 at 08:19 PM
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Published On: Sep 14, 2006 11:56 AM
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Published On: Sep 14, 2006 11:56 AM