In October 1900, German tailors William Weiss and John Zilinsky invested in this commercial building. They paid an exorbitant $9,500 for three lots behind Marcus Daly’s bank, where they constructed the first story of this two-story building. Early tenants, the Great Northern Express Co. (parcel delivery) and A. J. Cummings Grain and Stock Exchange, served Anaconda’s well-to-do families. By 1915, Weiss added an upscale second-story boardinghouse. Narrow brick piers and a stepped parapet accentuate the building’s height, while blocks and horizontal bands of cast stone add interest to the second-floor windows. Throughout the 1900s, various businesses—from insurance agents and jewelers to tailors and confectioners—occupied the first-story stores. Upstairs, a constant flow of single men, newlyweds, and widows lived in the boardinghouse rooms, sometimes with surprising results. In May 1919, managers Ambrose and Katherine Powers found an abandoned infant girl in one of the rooms, left by short-term guests registered as Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The Smiths never returned for the baby, and the Powers adopted her as their own.
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