Butte in Silver Bow County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Push Saloon ⎯⎯⎯ Silver Dollar Saloon
Butte National Historic Landmark District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 13, 2021
1. Push Saloon/Silver Dollar Saloon Marker
Inscription.
Push Saloon, also, Silver Dollar Saloon. Butte National Historic Landmark District. Butte saloons bragged of their diversity, specialization, and peculiarities. Frenchmen drank white whiskey at the Canadian, and the Scotch were entertained by bagpipes at McGregor’s. Swedes patronized the Scandia Hall and blacks the Silver Tip. Engineers frequented Jerry Clifford’s saloon, “high class miners” the Southern, and theater-goers the Orpheum. In addition, the nearby red light district (commonly called the “twilight zone”) boasted “very, very naughty saloons.” When the Push Saloon opened in this building in 1894 it was one of Butte’s 165 saloons. A four block walk up Main Street offered a choice of 35 similar establishments. During Prohibition owners sold “soft drinks and cigars” here, and later the Midget Creamery at this location accepted shipments from distant Virgelle, Montana, a place too accessible to the border and “bootleg” not to raise eyebrows. The Silver Dollar, established after Prohibition in 1934, is today a working link to this colorful and distinctive heritage.
Butte saloons bragged of their diversity, specialization, and peculiarities. Frenchmen drank white whiskey at the Canadian, and the Scotch were entertained by bagpipes at McGregor’s. Swedes patronized the Scandia Hall and blacks the Silver Tip. Engineers frequented Jerry Clifford’s saloon, “high class miners” the Southern, and theater-goers the Orpheum. In addition, the nearby red light district (commonly called the “twilight zone”) boasted “very, very naughty saloons.” When the Push Saloon opened in this building in 1894 it was one of Butte’s 165 saloons. A four block walk up Main Street offered a choice of 35 similar establishments. During Prohibition owners sold “soft drinks and cigars” here, and later the Midget Creamery at this location accepted shipments from distant Virgelle, Montana—a place too accessible to the border and “bootleg” not to raise eyebrows. The Silver Dollar, established after Prohibition in 1934, is today a working link to this colorful and distinctive heritage.
46° 0.684′ N, 112° 32.132′ W. Marker is in Butte, Montana, in Silver Bow County. It is on South Main Street near West Mercury Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 133-135 South Main 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 right corner of the building.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 12, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 9, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 441 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on November 9, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
