Travers M. and Mary B. Ford built this classic Queen Anne style cottage in the fall of 1888. The home’s brick veneer walls, arched gable-end windows, and projecting front bay add substance to its modest footprint. Travers, an immigrant from England, was a salesman at the Bonner Mercantile and Mary stayed home with their two children. Silver prices plummeted throughout early 1893, impacting many Butte industries. The Fords sold the home to the Butte Savings Bank for $2,000 in December 1893. In 1896, newlyweds Richard A. and Laura Kunkel purchased the residence for $3,200. Richard was an assistant cashier at Daly, Donahoe, and Moyer (later the State Savings Bank). Laura was president of the Homer Club—a literature study group—and often hosted club meetings. The Homer Club, born out of the nationwide woman’s club movement, provided its members social, intellectual, and leadership opportunities independent of male-run charities and church aid groups. A variety of occupants lived here in the 1920s, including explosives salesman H. J. Rodolf, lawyer Clarence Hanley and his wife Helen, and miner Fred Ham, his wife Edith, and their daughter Jennie.
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