Newlyweds Thomas and Mary Baker purchased this gable-roof cottage in 1884. Thomas had arrived in Butte in 1877 and began working as a private engineer and surveyor. In 1878, he was appointed deputy U.S. mineral surveyor for Montana and Idaho. During his career he determined boundaries for many of Butte’s most valuable mineral lodes, platted the town of Anaconda, and became one of Butte’s most respected professionals. His wife Mary helped raise funds to build Butte’s first public library and was President of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a group that fought to ban alcohol sales and promoted women’s suffrage. In the mid-1890s, the Bakers added rooms to the rear of the house and built a backyard cottage for renters. After Thomas died in 1906, Mary continued some of his work, becoming Montana’s first female land title attorney. She died in 1912 and their son, Jacob, a streetcar conductor, lived here with his wife Cora. Cora’s widowed sister, Mae Taylor, a nurse, lived with them after 1925. Cora died in 1937 and Jacob in 1944; Mae remained in residence until her death in 1954.
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| Name | Info | Actions |
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| Research.pdf | pdf / 5.42 MB | Download |