BUTTE, Montana | Rocky Mountain Rust Belt

[Thundertubs]

Butte sits just west of the Continental Divide in west-central Montana. It was a major gold/silver/copper mining boom town, and remains by far the most urban of Montana's cities. Butte sports a rock solid downtown and excellent urban housing stock (though in various states of repair), a unique look for such a mountainous location.

Butte's population is a little tricky. I've seen it as peaking at either 60,000 or 40,000 in the early 20th Century, before declining to 23,000 in 1970. After that, Butte merged with the rest of Silver Bow County, bringing the population over 30,000, but that includes all sorts of far-flung areas.

Read about the Berkeley Pit. It's America's largest superfund site, essentially a ticking time bomb of an ecological disaster looming over the entire city and everything downriver. I did not happen to visit it while in town.





The “M” is for Montana Tech


Butte is over 5,500 feet above sea level.




























































































It almost reminds me of a western Pennsylvania oil town in the Rocky Mountains














Part of the Montana Tech campus atop the hill


Evel Knievel is from Butte. That rules.

[Boquillas]

So awesome. Great set. One of my favorite cities in the US.

[M II A II R II K]

It can get cold enough in Montana without having to be higher up

[arkitekte]

Looks like an awesome place. Solid historic building stock and some nice grit. I'll have to add this place to my list.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Incredible scenery. I love Big Sky country

[DetroitSky]

Great shots! I've always wanted to visit Montana.

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures! Butte looks like a gritty mountain town. You are exactly right about the Pennsylvania look; quite a few of those pictures reminded me of an Appalachian oil town or coal town. Butte looks strangely similar to Oil City, PA, and Wheeling, WV.

[whatsthepoint13]

I love Butte. Sheer awesome. Thanks!

[BnaBreaker]

Wow...just wait until the hipsters hear about this one!

[fern]

Any town that's the home of evil kenevil is good enough for me the information about Berkeley Pit was fascinating.Butte's a real beauty , sorry couldn't help myself. brilliant thread

[pallo]

It looks very nice. Is this town rich or poor now? how much would a house cost there?

[Chef]

Compelling thread. I see the Pennsylvania comparison, it also looks like it could be Montana's Duluth minus the lake. I love the pink brick duplex.

[the pope]

so, now that the driver isn't married, does that mean he's rich and very muggable?

[Ex-Ithacan]

I love this place. The Pennsylvania/ West Virginia comparison is right on point.

Not sure I'll ever make it back out to Montana, but this thread might do the trick.

Looks like some rehab going on here:


Thanks for the tour Tt.

[photoLith]

Wow, I had no idea it was so gorgeous, and it looks like the city has relatively little sprawl, dont know if thats a good or bad thing. Great photos too, looks like a cool town to walk around in and explore.

[ColDayMan]

Appalachian Montana.

[FrAnKs]

Wow that was an awesome tour man ! I really enjoyed watching the pictures of landscapes that I'm VERY not use to see ! . The architecture of the city is very nice aswell.

[Danny]

Thanks for the pictures!

I like Butte and its landscape. Those mountains are great. I´d like to see another thread by winter. It must be amazing.

I observe few trees, I suppose that it will be due to the altitude, sure.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

[gatt]

i never heard of Butte before.nice tour.

[ue]

Super wicked. Montana has some interesting urban hidden gems. Helena is quite the depressing little city, but has an awesome downtown. I didn't realize Butte had such a small population though, having been there briefly, it seemed much larger (as it does in the photos as well). Amazing architectural preservation for such a small and young city. If just factoring pre-war architecture, Butte seems like a more urban place than Phoenix, Austin, Salt Lake City, Calgary, Edmonton, and Las Vegas, when in fact it is the same age or younger and much less urban.

Originally Posted by pallo

It looks very nice. Is this town rich or poor now? how much would a house cost there?

It's Montana, so probably not much. But you have less economic prospects and less amenities (nearest large cities are Calgary, Denver, and Salt Lake City; nearest small cities are Spokane, Boise, and Rapid City).