Filed Under Walkerville

Reed House

Butte Historic District

Simple four-room worker cottages like this one provided basic accommodations for miners. This well-preserved example, built circa 1890, retains its original footprint, wood windows and doors, and lapped wood siding. It originally included two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and an outhouse near the alley. Life for miners was often rough. John B. Kelly, in residence from 1898 to 1900, was badly beaten and left for dead following a night of drinking in September 1898. John’s friends found him alive in a prospect hole with serious head injuries and a fractured collar bone. In 1902, miner Michael Reed, his wife Mary, and their two children moved here. The Reeds had three more children and, in 1912, were hosting two boarders when Michael died of tuberculosis. Then, in 1914, Mary died of diabetes. Initially, Michael’s sister Mary Casey cared for the children and rented this house to other miners. By the mid-1920s she and the Reed children had returned to live here and at No. 12 next door. The oldest sibling, Thomas Reed and his wife Agnes, lived here from 1934 to 1971.

Images

Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville A circa 1905 view of the house and two occupants, possibly Michael and Mary Reed. Source: Jason Silvernale Creator: unknown photographer Date: ca. 1902
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Butte
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Butte View looking southeast at facade. Creator: Jason Silvernale Date: January 2024
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville View of facade Creator: Jason Silvernale Date: Jan 2024
10 O'Neill St., Walkerville, MT
10 O'Neill St., Walkerville, MT View of facade looking south Source: Montana Historical Society Creator: Martha Kohl, photographer Date: June 2021
10 O'Neill St., Walkerville, MT
10 O'Neill St., Walkerville, MT View of facade looking south Source: Butte-Silver Bow County Archives property record cards Creator: Butte-Silver Bow County planning office Date: 1959
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville Interior view of living room Creator: Jason Silvernale Date: Jan 2024
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville View of bathroom Creator: Jason Silvernale Date: Jan 2024
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville
Reed House, 10 O'Neill St., Walkerville View of kitchen Creator: Jason Silvernale Date: Jan 2024

Metadata

Mntana Historical Society, “Reed House,” Historic Montana, accessed October 12, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/3331.