Rueben and Lena May built two vernacular (builder designed) houses on this lot circa 1899—a three-bedroom cottage in the front and a four-bedroom home in the rear. Mattress maker William S. Graves lived in the front residence from 1903 to 1907. He sold the property to Josie Englund, who married teamster Walter Stocker shortly after. The newlyweds made the rear unit their home. Fire damaged the front cottage in 1911 while it was rented to insurance agent B. K. Walton. Josie filed for divorce in 1918 and sold the residences to Mary Heaney. She promptly resold the property to her son Thomas “Chris” Regan and his wife Catherine and then died weeks later. Chris Regan owned the Butte Merchant Police Service, a business that provided night watchmen services. Chris’s ubiquitous presence in Butte’s Central Business District disrupted numerous late-night burglaries and other petty crimes. Catherine worked at Symons Dry Goods and volunteered at the nearby Immaculate Conception Church. She also participated in politics as a longtime elected member of the county Democratic Central Committee for her precinct. Chris died in 1957 and Catherine died in 1963.
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