bsbarchives@bsb.mt.gov (406) 782-3280 17 W. Quartz, Butte, Montana

Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives

Every person, through their lives, shapes local and American history. Archives are here to protect that history.

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Past Exhibits

One Family One Hundred Years: Centennial of the Pekin Noodle Parlor
All Nations
Butte Fire Department #1
Daughters of Norway
Exchange Club
Italians of Butte
Lebanese of Butte
Serbian Culture and Faith
100 Objects

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The phone lines will be down at the Archives, Wedn The phone lines will be down at the Archives, Wednesday, January 20th- Friday, January 22nd. Please email staff at bsbarchives@bsb.mt.gov or call the county operator at 406-497-6200 to relay a message to Archives staff. . Pictured today are telephone operators in the Mountain States Telephone switchboard room. Smithers.04.001 . . . #ButteMontana #Telephone #BSBPublicArchives #ButteArchives
We are excited to share our newest project! We hav We are excited to share our newest project! We have taken safety posters illustrated by John Powers for the ACM and created coloring pages! The pages can be downloaded or printed off at the link in the bio. Bust out your crayons or use your tablet and get to coloring! Snap a photo of your masterpiece, upload it to social media and use the hashtag #ArchivesArtist OR email it to bsbarchives@bsb.mt.gov to be entered into our coloring contest! All submissions must be in by Monday, February 1st. . . . #ColorOurCollection #ButteArchives #ButteMontana #AnacondaCopperMiningCompany
126 years ago today, 58 people lost their lives in 126 years ago today, 58 people lost their lives in a deadly explosion in Butte's warehouse district. A fire started in the Kenyon-Connell Warehouse and spread to a massive amount of dynamite that was illegally stored inside. The explosion killed 13 of the 15 unsuspecting firefighters on the Butte Fire Department. Citizens rushed to the scene. Two more explosions occurred from more illegally stored dynamite in nearby warehouses, ultimately killing 58 people and forever changing the lives of countless others. . Pictured today is the warehouse district after the explosions while people look for survivors. Smithers.01.004.01 . . . #ThisDayInHistory #ButteMontana #ButteNeverForgetsHerOwn
That was quite a windstorm that Butte had yesterda That was quite a windstorm that Butte had yesterday! In February of 1940 Butte had a windstorm with gusts up to 75 miles per hour! Pictured today is the Immaculate Conception Church tower that was under construction. It "was sheered off by the force of the gale". Elsewhere in the city, powerlines were snapped and smokestacks on high buildings toppled. Smithers.75.006.03 . . . #ButteMontana #Wind #ThrowbackThursday
We have the hottest books on the market right now, We have the hottest books on the market right now, The Cabbage Patch by Jacob Sorich and East of the East Side by Christy Leskovar! You can shop online at our bookstore (link is in the bio) or if you're in Butte, call 406-782-3280 to make an appointment to purchase one for your library!
Today we are looking back 60 years in history! Pic Today we are looking back 60 years in history! Pictured is Reverend Pavle Poznanov standing at the altar of the old Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church, with an altar boy on either side. January 7th is celebrated as the date of birth of Jesus in the Serbian Orthodox Church. Smithers.75.085.01 . . . #ThisDayInHistory #ButteMontana #ThrowbackThursday #Christmas
Happy New Year! How will you be spending the first Happy New Year! How will you be spending the first day of 2021? Pictured today are Campfire Girls in the YMCA gym enjoying breakfast followed by crafting, circa 1930. The Archives is closed today but will reopen Monday, January 4th! Smithers.73.002.14 . . . #HappyNewYear #2021 #ButteMontana #CampfireGirls #YMCA
Everyone in this photo of the Liederkranz Society Everyone in this photo of the Liederkranz Society at a New Year's Eve Party in 1939 looks like they are having the best time! The Liederkranz Society was the first German Association established in Butte in 1876. Liederkranz translates to song circle and the club was known for performing at events. How are you ringing in the New Year? Smithers.01.041.08 . . . #NewYearsEve #2020 #HappyNewYear #2021 #ButteMontana #Liederkranz #Party
We are excited to announce our "Butte History in t We are excited to announce our "Butte History in the Classroom" online educational tool! Through the National Endowment for the Humanities, we were able to compile a variety of resources covering various topics in Butte's history and create lessons geared towards fifth-graders. Check it out... maybe you'll learn something new too! . Pictured today is Daniel Hennessy, founder of Hennessy's Department Store. To learn more, click the link in the bio! . . . #ButteMontana #ButteArchives #BSBPublicArchives #Education #OnlineLearning #NationalEndowmentForTheHumanities
Merry Christmas from the Butte Archives! We hope y Merry Christmas from the Butte Archives! We hope your day is merry and bright... just like this Meaderville Volunteer Fire Department Christmas Display from 1954 titled "Santa's Village"! We love how the Leonard Mine gallowsframe is visible behind the "Meaderville Christmas Card"! Smithers33.018.01 . . . #MerryChristmas #Meaderville #ButteMontana #SantaClaus #MerryAndBright #Holidays #MiningCityChristmas
"The Christmas spirit, always strong in Butte, is "The Christmas spirit, always strong in Butte, is gaining in vigor with each passing year" the Montana Standard reported in December of 1929. We believe this statement still holds true today as we witness the giving spirit of the Butte community, especially during this past year. . Pictured today is a tree lit in the holiday spirit. Smithers.03.039.02 . . . #ButteMontana #BelieveInButte #ChristmasSpirit #HolidaySpirit #ChristmasEve
What a turnout for the First Annual Community Chri What a turnout for the First Annual Community Christmas Tree in McQueen in 1938! The Montana Standard reported "the McQueen Community Club held its annual outdoor Christmas party in the Garfield Street Community Square. Santa Claus arrived and a program was held". Smithers03.007.01 . . . #CommunityChristmas #Christmas #McQueen #ChristmasTree #ButteMontana #ThisDayInHistory #MiningCityHoliday
It's always so much fun to watch a children's holi It's always so much fun to watch a children's holiday program and is something we dearly miss this year! Pictured today is an Eagles Kid's Christmas Party in 1969. What is your favorite holiday song to sing (or perhaps just listen to;-) )? Smithers.06.065.01 . . . #ButteMontana #ThisDayInHistory #Holiday #Christmas #HolidayProgram #ChristmasSongs
Last week we asked you to share your favorite memo Last week we asked you to share your favorite memories of Santa Claus in Butte. Many of you will remember Earl Casagranda as "Butte's Santa Claus". Earl first started "Santa Claus-ing" in 1971 upon his daughter's request. At the peak of being Santa Claus, Earl would make about 90 visits to the children of Butte each December. Earl did it all out of the goodness of his heart and in the Christmas spirit. Below is a snippet of his oral history the Archives has on file: . “Now people call me up and say, ‘I’d like you to Santa Claus. What do you charge?’. I don’t charge. What I do is ask, is if you feel you should reimburse me, I’d like you to make a donation to some other cause. So now I raise money for whatever. My biggest cause is Toys for Tots… I like to go to a party where they’re glad to see Santa Claus. You get a bunch of little kids there that, oh God, that are just so elated that Santa Claus is there! I Santa Claus for everybody. It’s been a great part of my life.” . Pictured today is an image from the Montana Standard, December 21, 1984. Earl allows children to pull on his beard to see if he is the real Santa Claus. . . . #SantaClaus #ChristmasSpirit #HolidaySpirit #Christmas #Holiday #ButteMontana #MiningCityChristmas #ThisDayInHistory
'Tis the season! The Salvation Army has been colle 'Tis the season! The Salvation Army has been collecting money in their famous kettles since the early 1900's in Butte. In 1909 the Butte Miner wrote "the man or woman who stands there all the day through, is a silent but powerful reminder of that unselfishness which the Christmas season is meant to inspire". . Pictured today is a scene of citizens donating to the Salvation Army from December 1926. Smithers.20.005.03 . . . #TisTheSeason #Giving #Christmas #Holidays #SalvationArmy #ButteMontana #MiningCityHoliday
We love when Butte is all gussied up for the holid We love when Butte is all gussied up for the holidays! What were your favorite decorations of Uptown Butte in December? Pictured today is Hennessy's at the corner of Main Street and Granite Street, circa 1948. Smithers.02.067.01 . . . #ButteMontana #Holidays #Christmas #SantaClaus #Hennessys #MainStreet #UptownButte
Pictured today is the Butte Miners Union carrying Pictured today is the Butte Miners Union carrying on a tradition of providing Christmas baskets for some of its members in less fortunate circumstances. This was a yearly tradition beginning in 1873 upon the union's organization. Smithers.49.063.10 . . . #ChristmasDinner #MinersUnion #Holiday #Donate #ButteMontana
On December 15, 1931 the Montana Standard reported On December 15, 1931 the Montana Standard reported "extra clerks and mail handlers put to work as yule business increases". The post office expanded it's operations to an extra building to handle a "record number of sacks of mail" as the citizens of Butte mailed gifts to loved ones elsewhere and vice versa. Are you mailing holiday gifts this year? Smithers.05.034.04 . . . #ButteMontana #ThisDayInHistory #Christmas #Holidays #MiningCityHoliday #Mail
Santa was practicing social distancing before it w Santa was practicing social distancing before it was cool 😉 ! Santa has made appearances throughout Butte's history, from atop the ladder of a fire truck (seen here in 1951), to children visiting him in his special chair at Hennessy's (on display in the lobby of Northwestern Energy), to the annual Christmas Stroll. What is your favorite memory of Santa in Butte? Smithers.30.179.01 . . . #ButteMontana #SantaClaus #MrsClaus #CanYouFindMrsClaus #Firetruck #SocialDistance #SignsOfTheTimes #Holidays #Christmas
Will you be making crafts and gifts this holiday s Will you be making crafts and gifts this holiday season? We love these cuties at the Webster-Garfield School making candles in a classroom, circa December 1961. Clockwise around the table: Lyn Gustafson, Betty Janik, Patty Coulombe, Ray Floyd, Carol Boyce, James Medici, Margie Malkovich, Sheila Smith, Gayle Schumacher, Paul Benitez, Le ann Gronvold, Linda Smith, and Bobby Bengston. Smithers.69.116.01 . . . #Crafting #Gifts #Holidays #Christmas #ButteMontana
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Hours & Info

17 W. Quartz
Butte, MT 59701
1-406-782-3280
bsbarchives@bsb.mt.gov
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
closed on state and federal holidays

Hours & Info

17 W. Quartz
Butte, MT 59701
1-406-782-3280
bsbarchives@bsb.mt.gov
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
closed on state and federal holidays

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