![Metals Bank Building](https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/29d9ec15a181fc2e68ebdd8bade5b5e1.jpg)
The strength of Butte’s early financial community is well represented in this monumental steel, brick, and stone skyscraper completed in 1906. Copper king F. Augustus Heinze financed the $325,000 bank building, incorporating the newest steel-frame and curtain-wall construction techniques. Nationally renowned architect Cass Gilbert 1859-1934 drew the blueprints and Montana architects Link and Haire supervised the local work. Gilbert’s best known work is New York City’s sixty-story Woolworth Building 1913 and the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. 1932-1935. One of Montana’s first skyscrapers, the Metals’ eight floors add significantly to Butte’s urban skyline. A copper-trimmed entry complements the gray stone. Above, brick walls and stone arches culminate at the sixth floor. Ornate wrought iron balconies punctuate the second and seventh floors. An open wrought-iron staircase carries this element inside, where copper-trimmed windows with African mahogany frames and a marble-walled elevator lobby reflect 1906 Butte’s wealth. A huge polished steel bank vault recalls the building’s first use.
Images
![Metals Bank Building](https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/29d9ec15a181fc2e68ebdd8bade5b5e1.jpg)
![Metals Bank Building](https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/9e33e131669101e9279e8eae6e87b997.jpg)
![Metals Bank](https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/56465ecf7a71562d1df107012f20ce9f.jpg)
![Metals Bank](https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/8e16d30f57d79ebbc2a14432271d208b.jpg)
![Metals Bank](https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/a432d108e0f6a052e1183469e38dfba5.jpg)