Butte in Silver Bow County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Mueller Apartments
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, July 12, 2021
1. Mueller Apartments Marker
Inscription.
Mueller Apartments. Butte National Historic Landmark District. Turn-of-the-century critics called apartment living “a shortcut . . . to the divorce court.” These moralists believed that the proximity of bedrooms to living areas, and the easy access to both by neighbors, encouraged promiscuity, while apartment dwellers’ limited housekeeping duties encouraged a dangerous lack of domesticity among wives. Nevertheless, apartments increasingly attracted middle-class residents, particularly young, childless couples, older couples whose children had grown, and bachelors and working women, who didn’t need as much space as larger families. White-collar workers occupied the five-story, fifty-five-unit Mueller Apartments, built in 1917 as an investment by A. H. Mueller, president of Centennial Brewing Company. The building incorporates Italian Renaissance style design elements: a symmetrical façade, a rusticated first story, keystone arches over the first-floor windows, and paired brackets and dentils under the cornice. Stained glass windows decorate the front entrance while a belt course and a distinct window pattern distinguish the fifth-floor penthouse apartments. These elegant, yet restrained architectural details announce the building’s respectability and, by extension, the respectability of its tenants, who included teachers, a doctor, salesclerks, accountants, and business owners.
Turn-of-the-century critics called apartment living “a shortcut . . . to the divorce court.” These moralists believed that the proximity of bedrooms to living areas—and the easy access to both by neighbors—encouraged promiscuity, while apartment dwellers’ limited housekeeping duties encouraged a dangerous lack of domesticity among wives. Nevertheless, apartments increasingly attracted middle-class residents, particularly young, childless couples, older couples whose children had grown, and bachelors and working women, who didn’t need as much space as larger families. White-collar workers occupied the five-story, fifty-five-unit Mueller Apartments, built in 1917 as an investment by A. H. Mueller, president of Centennial Brewing Company. The building incorporates Italian Renaissance style design elements: a symmetrical façade, a rusticated first story, keystone arches over the first-floor windows, and paired brackets and dentils under the cornice. Stained glass windows decorate the front entrance while a belt course and a distinct window pattern distinguish the fifth-floor penthouse apartments. These elegant, yet restrained architectural details announce the building’s respectability and, by extension, the respectability of its tenants, who included teachers, a doctor, salesclerks, accountants, and business owners.
Location. 46° 0.842′ N, 112° 32.612′ W. Marker is in Butte, Montana, in Silver Bow County. Marker is at the intersection of West Granite Street and North Jackson Street, on the right when traveling west on West Granite Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 501 West Granite Street, Butte MT 59701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
The marker is at the right front of the left tower.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, July 12, 2021
3. Mueller Apartments
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2021. It was originally submitted on October 25, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 107 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 25, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
