Home ownership symbolized independence and respectability when John and Rose Gannon constructed this five-room cottage circa 1904. A pared-down version of a high-style asymmetrical Queen Anne residence, the brick home represented a stake for thirty-six-year-old John Gannon, an oiler at the Diamond Mine. A 1900 report noted the construction of many such homes across Butte, asserting that the "pretty little cottages" provided "eloquent testimony to the improved morale of the labor employed in the mines" and the miners' assimilation into civic and community life. The Gannons raised four children here, including daughter Rosemary, who continued to occupy the residence into the 1980s. A dedicated elementary school teacher and accomplished pianist, Rosemary typified the unsung women whose volunteer service sustained many community institutions. Her causes included the Big Butte Volunteer Fire Department, the Daughters of Isabella (a Catholic women's organization), and Delta Kappa Gamma, an honor society for women educators. In 1972 she received national recognition as an Outstanding Elementary Teacher of America for her distinguished service at Sherman School in Walkerville, where she taught for 43 years.
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