Butte in Silver Bow County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
The Anselmo
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
1. The Anselmo Marker
The Anselmo Mine produced zinc, copper, silver and manganese. The Anselmo shaft was sunk in 1887 by independent miners and purchased by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company in 1926. After a lengthy strike in 1959, the Anselmo ceased operations permanently.
The Anselmo Mine Yard is the most intact mine yard within the Butte National Historic Landmark District. Its buildings, among them the engine room, with electricians dry, the carpenter shop, the miners dry (a dry is a change room with lockers and showers) and the machine shop represent the multiple crafts and trades that occupied a mine yard and supported individual mine operations. The three-sheave headframe of riveted I-beam construction sits atop the three-and-one-half compartment shaft.
“The central lumberyard, was built after they tore out Rocker Mill. And they moved the ‘framin’ up here. The ‘framin’ of the round timber, not the square timber, the square timber was framed in Missoula.”
—Kevin Shannon, switchman, B.A. & P. Ry., retired
“In '47 at the Badger, they lost a car of laggin (planks) and logs. The car ran away down the hill and knocked down a house. It knocked down a telephone pole and knocked all the power out — the B.A. & P was shut down. Well, the Anselmo had no ore bin so they had to have dumps (ore cars) under the chutes to keep it running. They brought a steam engine to the Anselmo just to get cars in and out of there or they’d have to shut the mine down. The steam engine was clean to the School of Mines and the engineer couldn't see them dumping ore so we used signals — what we called ‘decorating the dumps.’ If you look down you'll see the curve. So you had to ‘decorate the train’ with switchmen with lamps hanging out there to give the signals. That left only one man on the ground here to do all the switching. It was a hell of a mess.”
—Kevin Shannon, switchman, B.A. & P. Ry., retired
Erected by Montana's
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1887.
Location. 46° 1.046′ N, 112° 32.867′ W. Marker is in Butte, Montana, in Silver Bow County. It can be reached from North Excelsior Avenue just south of West Woolman Street, on the right when traveling north. The marker is on the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific (BA&P) Hill Trail, about 0.1 mile east of North Excelsior Avenue, overlooking the historic Anselmo Mine site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 521 North Excelsior Avenue, 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.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
2. The Anselmo Marker
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. The Anselmo Mine
Also see . . . Anselmo Mine (Story of Butte).
(by Nancy Woodruff, Richard Gibson, & Butte Historical Society) Excerpt: The Anselmo mineyard is the most intact of any in Butte, and includes the main hoist engine room, an auxiliary hoist building (with a lamp room in the lower level), carpenter shop, timekeeper's offices, hose house, the dry (miners’ locker room), and a warehouse, in addition to the headframe with its tipple and two idler towers. The compressed air tank also survives. Inside, tools and other artifacts are found(Submitted on August 16, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)in place, just as they were when the mine was operating.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 20243. The Anselmo MarkerLooking southeast from the BA&P Hill Trail. The auxiliary hoist house, carpenter shop, support buildings and headframes are in the background.The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway train at the Anselmo is the only remaining artifact of the first electrified heavy haul engine that served as the prototype for electrifying rail engines throughout the country. Ore was raised from the mine to the tipple structure on the side of the headframe, from where it was dumped into train cars below. The trains, which once laced together all the mines, transported copper ore to the town of Anaconda, where it was concentrated and smelted at the huge Washoe Smelter.
The Anselmo also had a yard that treated lumber for underground timbers and supplied them to many mines. The timber was milled west of Butte, at Rocker, and brought to the Anselmo where it was treated with arsenic to prevent rotting.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
4. The Anselmo Marker
Looking northeast along the BA&P Hill Trail. The hoist house (engine room) is in the background.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
5. The Anselmo Mine Hoist House/Engine Room
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 6, 2024
6. Anselmo Mine Headframe
Credits. This page was last revised on August 16, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 15, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 13 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 15, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 6. submitted on August 16, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
