Virginia City in Madison County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Conrey Place
This Property Contributes to the Virginia City Historic District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 5, 2022
1. Conrey Place Marker
Inscription.
During Virginia City’s mid-1860s boom, residences and businesses crowded along Cover Street. Most commercial buildings were gone by the mid-1880s and the neighborhood became primarily residential. Irish immigrant Phillip Conrey, a rancher and two-term city treasurer, worked extensive Alder Gulch placer claims and built this two-story home in the 1880s. An open porch with turned spindles; tall, narrow windows; and clapboard siding are characteristic of the period. The interior features wood ceilings and an original staircase. A stone section likely predates the house; Conrey probably stored materials from his placer mining operations there. Conrey sold his Ruby Valley ranch for a mere $30,000; investors later dredged the property for gold making millions, much of it bequeathed to Harvard University. After several other owners, Anaconda Hotel owner Amanda McKeen bought the home in 1920. Upon her death in 1923, it passed to a niece. Alta Butler began her forty-year ownership of the home in 1933 after the death of her husband, deputy sheriff William Butler. The appearance of the home has changed little from the 1880s when it
Location. 45° 17.643′ N, 111° 56.817′ W. Marker is in Virginia City, Montana, in Madison County. It is on West Cover Street near Van Buren Street, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 223 West Cover Street, Virginia City MT 59755, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Montana, in Gold West Country, in Mining Country and in Greater Bozeman. 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
Credits. This page was last revised on September 20, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 20, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 200 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on September 20, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
