Butte in Silver Bow County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
The Con Hoist House
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
1. The Con Hoist House Marker
Hoist Did the Lifting
Large steel cables ran from the hoist engines, housed in the Hoist House or Engine Room, to the top of the headframe. The cables then looped over massive sheave wheels (pulleys) and down to man cages and ore skips suspended over the mine shaft. The hoists lowered men and equipment into the mine and raised ore to the surface. Early steam-powered hoists were difficult to operate and very energy inefficient. By 1914 the Mountain Con upgraded its steam-powered hoist to compressed air. In 1928 the Anaconda Copper Mining Company (ACM) built the present Hoist House building, with two new electric AllisChalmers hoists, to service the deepening mine.
Miners Descended Quickly
The main hoist controlled two independent cable reels, capable of lifting hundreds of tons of ore each day. A smaller auxiliary or chippie hoist was also used to raise and lower men and equipment. Up to 32 miners were loaded into four-deck cages, 8 men apiece, for a rapid descent into the mine at speeds approaching 600 feet per minute. The hoisting engineer communicated with station tenders at various depths within the mine by an elaborate
this page online
[photo captions]
Top of the World Trail System [trail map]
Con workers, above, disable a steam powered hoist in 1915 to make way for a new compressed air hoist.
The Con built the current Hoist House, in undated photo at top, in 1928 and replaced the air hoist with electric hoists.
Erected by Montana's Copperway.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1928.
Location. 46° 1.442′ N, 112° 31.883′ W. Marker is in Butte, Montana, in Silver Bow County. It can be reached from Wells Street just south of East Center Street. The marker is on the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific (BA&P) Hill Trail, overlooking the historic Mountain Consolidated Mine hoist house. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: 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
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
2. The Con Hoist House Marker
Looking west along the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific (BA&P) Hill Trail. The historic Mountain Consolidated Mine hoist house is in the background.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Con (within shouting distance of this marker); The Con Headframe (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Welcome! To the Top of the World (about 600 feet away); St. Lawrence OToole Church (approx. Ό mile away); The Steward (approx. 0.4 miles away); 1600 North Main (approx. half a mile away); Butte-Anaconda Historic District (approx. half a mile away); Butte-Anaconda-Walkerville (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Butte.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Mountain Consolidated Mine
Also see . . . Hoisting Engines and Hoist Houses (Story of Butte).
(By Fred Quivik) Excerpt: When steam-powered hoisting began in Butte in the 1870s, the boilers, steam engines, and headframes were small enough that they could all be housed within a single timber-framed building.(Submitted on August 15, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)As mine production increased, however, the size of steam-powered hoisting engines grew, as did the activities that had to be conducted around the collar of the shaft and, in time, a new configuration arose, with the taller, unenclosed headframe standing over the shaft, and the hoisting engine housed in a free-standing industrial building adjacent to the headframe and shaft. The surviving hoist houses in Butte are all industrial buildings built either of brick or of steel frame with corrugated steel siding. They have windows for daylighting of the interior, but the windows did not give the hoist operator a view of the mineshaft. Miners underground, surface workers, and the hoist operator communicated with each other by a system of bells. In the early twentieth century, the Butte mines began to modify their steam hoists to be powered by compressed air, and then they converted to electric hoists.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 20243. The Con Hoist House
Credits. This page was last revised on August 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 14, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 6 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 15, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
