The Best of Butte, Montana: Mining and History

Butte, Montana has much to offer in interesting attractions for causualtourists and history aficionados alike. The city began as a mining camp primarily based upon gold and silver mining. After the advent of electricity, copper became a valuable commodity, as did Butte's vast deposits of the metal. Butte soon became known as 'The Richest Hill on Earth', and produced the larger portion of copper in the United States during its mining period. When the Anaconda Copper Company opened the Berkley Pitt and began strip mining for copper, the age of underground mining, and eventually mining in general, in Butte wained. In 1983, Butte suffered a serious economic blow when the ACM closed the Berkley Pitt and all mining operations. Despite the opening of a new strip-mining operation, Butte fell on hard times. With recent economic boons and the hard work Butte people are known for, Butte is experiencing a revival of sorts.

Butte's uptown is rich with history, and guided walking tours offered by Old Butte Historical Adventures http://www.buttetours.info/ occur daily to visit some of the Uptown's intriguing sites, including authentic speak-easys, offices, and barber shops all recently discovered in moth-balled condition. Nearby is the Dumas Brothel, housing the history of the purportedly longest-running house-of-ill-repute in the history of the United States. The historic Finlen Hotel http://www.finlen.com/ , with its recently restored lobby, is likewise an impressive structure not to be missed.