The decade following World War I brought an excess of copper to the world market and Butte suffered a severe economic slowdown. The Finlen Hotel and the Fox Theater were the only two substantial buildings constructed in Butte’s business district during the 1920s. New Year’s Day, 1924, marked the opening of this grand hotel modeled in miniature after New York City’s Hotel Astor. The nine-story hotel with a French Second Empire mansard roof was designed by prominent Great Falls architect George Shanley and built by Butte's Albert Broadland. James Finlen, son of wealthy mining pioneer Miles Finlen, financed the building.
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