Filed Under Butte

Paumie Block

Butte National Historic Landmark District

Maria and Camille Paumie came to Montana from France in 1887. They constructed the west half of this building circa 1890, known as the Parisian House; its furnished rooms were rented out under various proprietors. The bottom floor was the Parisian Dye Works, a dye house and dry-cleaning business run by the Paumies who also lived in the building. Paumie’s was one of the town’s first steam dry-cleaners. Located on the fringe of Butte’s notorious red light district, much of Paumie’s cleaning business was with the prostitutes who worked and lived just to the east. The business expanded in 1898 with the addition of the east half of the building. Camille Paumie died in 1899 and Maria continued the business until the 1920s. Paumie’s Parisian Dye Works later had different owners who retained the Paumie name. The original three-story masonry building, with its fine cast-iron storefront and metal “eyebrow” lintels, appears much as it did in the late 1890s. A complex of interconnected extensions link this address with 110 S. Dakota.

Images

Paumie Block
Paumie Block Paumie Block (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCBD07 F35). Front to side view of the building, facing east to southeast from the corner of West Galena Street and South Dakota Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1985
Paumie Block, Butte, MT
Paumie Block, Butte, MT View of north facade Source: iPhone 8 image capture, jpeg Creator: Martha Kohl, photographer Date: May 28, 2021

Location

58-60 West Galena Street, Butte, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Paumie Block,” Historic Montana, accessed March 29, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/1919.