Filed Under Butte

125 North Main Street

Butte National Historic Landmark District

Like its immediate neighbors, this is one of Butte’s earliest substantial buildings. Dating before 1884, it documents various periods of use through a distinct sequence of visible alterations. The ground floor commercial space was originally occupied by a jeweler and a tailor. Furnished rooms were available at the back and upstairs, accessed by an interior stairway. The upper windows with their graceful brick arches are typical of this earliest period. A dry goods/notions and millinery shop next shared the commercial storefront. Butte architect H. M. Patterson designed a new façade in 1895, connecting this address with the two buildings to the south. The cast-iron pilasters of that remodeling remain visible next door. In 1900, an inner doorway opened into J. V. Harmon’s saloon at 123 North Main. Clothing store owner Samuel Clerke installed the metal cornice in 1910, further linking numbers 123 and 125. By 1930, Hoenck’s Fur Shop occupied this building, once again separating the two addresses. Art Deco style metal sheathing, added circa 1940, further chronicles the building’s alterations as its function changed over time.

Images

125 North Main
125 North Main facade Source: Montana Historical Society Creator: Bryan Baldwin Date: August 8, 2022
West Side of Main Street, from Granite to Broadway
West Side of Main Street, from Granite to Broadway Artist's rendering of a street scene with storefronts in the background, horse-drawn carts and pedestrians on the street in the foreground. Utility poles visible to the left and center of the view. Butte Carriage Works and Arion Hall visible. Source: PAc 946-018, Montana Legacy Collection, Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. Creator: From the Inter Mountain Holiday Edition, 1887-1888, page 5. Date: 1887-1888
125 North Main Street
125 North Main Street 125 North Main Street (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCBD10 F30). Front view of the building, facing west on North Main Street. The building featured here is on the right in the photograph with the business "Cabaret Lounge." B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1985

Location

125 North Main Street, Butte, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “125 North Main Street,” Historic Montana, accessed April 18, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/1972.