Butte in Silver Bow County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Metals Bank Building
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 12, 2021
1. Metals Bank Building Marker
Inscription.
Metals Bank Building. Butte National Historic Landmark District. The strength of Butte’s early financial community is well represented in this monumental steel, brick, and stone skyscraper completed in 1906. Copper king F. Augustus Heinze financed the $325,000 bank building, incorporating the newest steel-frame and curtain-wall construction techniques. Nationally renowned architect Cass Gilbert 1859-1934 drew the blueprints and Montana architects Link and Haire supervised the local work. Gilbert’s best known work is New York City’s sixty-story Woolworth Building 1913 and the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. 1932-1935. One of Montana’s first skyscrapers, the Metals’ eight floors add significantly to Butte’s urban skyline. A copper-trimmed entry complements the gray stone. Above, brick walls and stone arches culminate at the sixth floor. Ornate wrought iron balconies punctuate the second and seventh floors. An open wrought-iron staircase carries this element inside, where copper-trimmed windows with African mahogany frames and a marble-walled elevator lobby reflect 1906 Butte’s wealth. A huge polished steel bank vault recalls the building’s first use.
The strength of Butte’s early financial community is well represented in this monumental steel, brick, and stone skyscraper completed in 1906. Copper king F. Augustus Heinze financed the $325,000 bank building, incorporating the newest steel-frame and curtain-wall construction techniques. Nationally renowned architect Cass Gilbert 1859-1934 drew the blueprints and Montana architects Link and Haire supervised the local work. Gilbert’s best known work is New York City’s sixty-story Woolworth Building 1913 and the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. 1932-1935. One of Montana’s first skyscrapers, the Metals’ eight floors add significantly to Butte’s urban skyline. A copper-trimmed entry complements the gray stone. Above, brick walls and stone arches culminate at the sixth floor. Ornate wrought iron balconies punctuate the second and seventh floors. An open wrought-iron staircase carries this element inside, where copper-trimmed windows with African mahogany frames and a marble-walled elevator lobby reflect 1906 Butte’s wealth. A huge polished steel bank vault recalls the building’s first use.
Location. 46° 0.764′ N, 112° 32.152′ W. Marker is in Butte, Montana, in Silver Bow County. It is at the intersection of West Park Street and South Main Street, on the left when traveling west on West Park Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8 West Park Street, Butte MT 59701, 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.
The marker is at the corner of the building below the turn-signal.
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 12, 2021
3. Metals Bank Building
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 12, 2021
4. Metals Bank Building
Credits. This page was last revised on November 4, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 5, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 815 times since then and 68 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on November 5, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. 4. submitted on November 6, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
