Anaconda in Deer Lodge County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Goosetown Historic District

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 18, 2016

1. Goosetown Historic District Marker

Nation Register of Historic Places nomination form
Click for more information.

Inscription. Attracted by the opportunity to work at Marcus Daly's copper smelter, thousands of immigrants came seeking work in Anaconda. Many were from Ireland, like Daly himself, but skilled and unskilled workers also came from a myriad of foreign places. Most settled in Goosetown, a working-class neighborhood ideally located adjacent to the Anaconda foundry and the original Washoe works site, under the shadow of the Great Stack. Small inexpensive lots, simple frame workers' cottages, boarding houses and small businesses dating mostly from 1883 to 1918 illustrate the neighborhood's economic solidarity and working-class character. Modest homes on narrow lots with bachelor cabins at the rear, rented for a little extra income, are common throughout the district. Occasional saloons and the 1905 Washoe Brewery reflect the private commerce and industry that flourished alongside the dominant smelter-related enterprises. In addition, widows often maintained their families by operating small businesses from their homes. The Beaudette Block, the Anaconda Meat and Grocery Company and the depression-era Club Moderne are Goosetown's most significant

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commercial buildings. Historic churches including the Austrian Roman Catholic, Free Swedish Mission, Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran and Serbian Orthodox only hint at the many ethnically-oriented organizations that offered comaraderie and comfort far from home. There are two schools of thought on the source of Goosetown's name. The most widely accepted theory attributes the name to the east side bars' practice of keeping turkeys and geese to raffle off at Thanksgiving. Another theory holds that the neighborhood's initial freshwater system consisted of a water tap at the end of a gooseneck pipe in each residential yard.

Erected by Montana Historical Society and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 46° 7.389′ N, 112° 55.865′ W. Marker is in Anaconda, Montana, in Deer Lodge County. It is on Anaconda Smelter Road (East 4th Street) ¼ mile south of Park Avenue (Pintler Veterans Memorial Scenic Hwy) (State Highway 1),

Goosetown Historic District Marker (<i>wide view</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 18, 2016

2. Goosetown Historic District Marker (wide view)

on the right when traveling east. Marker is located in Anaconda Smelter Stack State Park, along the circular walkway around the smelter stack exhibit, just east of the parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 Anaconda Smelter Road, Anaconda MT 59711, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in andspecifically outhwest Montana, in Gold West Country, in Mining Country. It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Contributions of the Washoe Smelter (a few steps from this marker); Smelting the Ore (a few steps from this marker); Preserving the Washoe Smelter Stack (a few steps from this marker); Marcus Daly - An Irishman with Vision (a few steps from this marker); Organized Labor (within shouting distance of this marker); Washoe Stack Facts

Anaconda Smelter Stack Exhibit (<i>marker is located along walkway, on north side of ring</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 18, 2016

3. Anaconda Smelter Stack Exhibit (marker is located along walkway, on north side of ring)

(within shouting distance of this marker); Washoe Brewery (approx. 0.4 miles away); 801 East Third Street (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Anaconda.

More about this marker. Marker is a large, framed, laser-printed metal plaque, mounted horizontally on a waist-high metal post.

Regarding Goosetown Historic District. National Register of Historic Places (#98000156) (1998)

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Butte-Anaconda National Historic Landmark District

Also see . . . Book notes oral history of Goosetown. Montana Standard website entry:
A melting pot of working-class families, Goosetown was (and is) home to folks with unique stories about early life in the Smelter City — from racing bobsleds down Birch Street to bootlegging moonshine during Prohibition. Irishmen, Croats and Germans, among many others, are represented in the interviews. They all came to Anaconda for one thing in common: jobs at the smelter, and plenty of them. (Submitted on January 2, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Anaconda Smelter Stack State Park (<i>turn here to access exhibit and marker</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 18, 2016

4. Anaconda Smelter Stack State Park (turn here to access exhibit and marker)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 1, 2021. It was originally submitted on January 2, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 717 times since then and 45 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 2, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.