Rows of wood-frame houses lined West Daly Street by 1884 when it was still part of Chickentown, a Walkerville suburb. By 1891, Walkerville had absorbed Chickentown, and this house was the only brick-clad home on West Daly. Butcher Louis T. Gainor and wife Julia purchased the home in 1898, later adding a two-story rear addition by 1916 and stucco cladding after 1930. Louis, a successful meat market owner, served one term as Walkerville mayor in 1902-03. He owned one of Butte’s first cars, and his custom-made White Steamer runabout nearly won the Montana State Fair’s first-ever auto race in 1906. He narrowly lost when it burst into flames. In 1914, Julia joined one hundred local women campaigning against women’s suffrage. The group declared that giving women the right to vote was “progressive only in name” because of the “great responsibilities which it would add to the already manifold duties and responsibilities in woman’s life.” Louis and Julia shared the home with their daughter Virginia and son-in-law William Hunter until they died in the 1940s. Virginia and William remained in residence until 1959.
Images
