Stone, brick, and wood combine to add texture to this Queen Anne style residence, built circa 1900. The open front porch with spindlework posts, projecting bay, and small turret topped by a metal finial are hallmarks of the style. Insurance agent Wilbur Bachelor, his wife Kitty, and their four children lived here in 1900. Sigmund and Emma Schilling purchased the residence by 1904 and added a rear addition and lap-sided back porch (since enclosed) before 1916. Sigmund emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1884, arriving in Butte by 1885. He worked first as a tailor before opening the Sig Schilling Cigar Co., a billiard and pool hall that sold cigars, tobacco, and candy. A member of Butte’s thriving Jewish community, Sig became a prominent businessman and served as the third president of Temple B’nai Israel, the second synagogue built in Montana. He and his wife Emma participated in many of Butte’s elite social clubs and were frequently mentioned in the Society pages. Sig died in 1936, but Emma continued to reside here into the 1940s.
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