Road Trip around Montana – Butte America
 | Author:
Brenda Phillips
Brenda Phillips: MT43 News Office Administrator |
Road Trip around Montana – Butte America
Brenda Phillips
It is one thing to drive through Butte and look at all the cool historic buildings and visit the museums but we decided to take the trolley tour. The 2-hour trip around town in the open-air trolley was very enlightening. It rained a bit the day that we went so they rolled down the vinyl windows to keep us dry. We were lucky enough to have Chris as our tour guide/driver. He is a history teacher who recently retired from Butte High School. Chris had very extensive knowledge of the Butte history and even a few of the colorful not so public stories of the town’s history and nightlife!
The day we were on the trolley tour, the streets were full of equipment and the crew of the movie 1883. We had to take a slight detour as they were unloading a trailer that was loaded with antique cars that were to be in the movie. Chris took us to one of his favorite spots in Butte – the Berkeley pit. His stories of the pit, mining and history were very entertaining. It was so nice to have someone driving that knew where all the good sites were and with him driving, we could look around, without having to pay attention to the traffic.
We also went to the World Museum of Mining. What an interesting collection of historical artifacts for early Montana history. They have a city that has been recreated to give you the feeling of walking down the early streets of a western town. I was amazed by the room that contained a large collection of antique toys. The sad part was, that some of the “old” toys in their collection, were toys that I had as a child! There was a lot of mining equipment and even an old Cat crawler tractor that reminded me of some my grandfather drove when we were kids. They have fantastic displays showing what it looked like above ground and below ground in the mines. I could not imagine working an 8-10 hour shift underground. There was a mine elevator car that was used to transport miners down into the mine. The floor of the car was about 3-4 feet square and they said they could send 10 men into the shaft, in that elevator car. Can you say claustrophobic?! There was a room full of rocks, ores and minerals that were impressive. I liked the room of glow-in-the-dark rocks! Butte also has a Mineral Museum at the college, but we didn’t have time to do it all --- So we will be going back to Butte for another look around.
We wanted to go to the historic Pekin Noodle parlor, a Chinese restaurant that is rumored to be in an old brothel. I’ve eaten there before and it is an experience, along with good food. They were not open when we were ready to eat this time, so we’ll have to go back another day. We also did not have time to see the Clark Mansion and museum. We also visited the Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel at Stoddard Park.
There are so many hidden gems in all of our Montana towns that are just a day trip away. Stay tuned for more travel adventures. Brenda and Kurt Phillips are from Townsend and enjoy visiting Montana's scenic and historic sites.
Article Images
Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 1 Caption: Butte Historic Trolley Tour
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 2 Caption: Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel at Stoddard Park
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 3 Caption: Berkeley Pit Visitor Center Entrance
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 4 Caption: World Museum of Mining Entrance in Butte
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 5 Caption: Old House in Butte
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
