Butte travel guide — Butte tourism and travel information

Welcome to Butte Travel Guide, extensive source of tourist information and travel services offer related to Butte and USA. Book cheap hotels, cheap flights and get car rental. We also offer Butte travel guide books and maps and atlases. Please visit USA travel guide for more travel and tourism iformation and attractions in the USA.

our Butte travel guide — Butte tourism and travel information content

Butte travel and tourist guide
Butte travel services
Butte travel books
- Butte travel guide books
- Butte maps and atlases

latest Butte and USA discussion posts

Join our comprehensive travel discussion board! Share your Butte and USA travel experience! Our Ask and Answer forum is geographically divided, the team of editors world-wide is ready to answer your questions.

insert new comment or question »

Butte travel guide

about Butte

Butte is a city that is located in Silver Bow County, Montana and is the county seat. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the single entity of Butte-Silver Bow City. As of the 2000 census, Butte had a total population of 33,892. In its hey-day in the late 19th century, it was one of the largest and most notorious copper boom-towns in the American West, home to hundreds of saloons and a famous red-light district. It now claims the dubious distinction of being home to the Berkeley Pit, which is the largest Superfund site in the United States.

Butte geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Butte has a total area of 1,856.5 km² (716.8 mi²). 1,854.7 km² (716.1 mi²) of it is land and 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.09% water.

Butte history

Butte has been a mining town since its creation in the late 19th century, and at first only gold and silver were mined in the area. However, the advent of electricity caused a soaring demand for copper, which was abundant in the area. The small town soon became one of the most prosperous cities in the country, especially after World War I and was often called "the Richest Hill on Earth". It is estimated that a third of all copper produced in the US in the late 19th century and early 20th century came from Butte. The city also attracted immigrants looking for work, especially from Ireland and China. The legacy of the immigrants lives on in the form of the pasty - a sort of hand-held meat pie (originally of Cornish origin) which was popularized by mine workers who needed something easy to eat in the mines.

The influx of miners gave Butte the reputation as wide-open town where any vice was obtainable. The city's famous saloon and red-light district, called the "Line", was centered on Wyoming Street where the elegant bordellos included the famous Dumas Brothel, regarded as the longest-running house of prostitution in the U.S. In the brick alley behind the brothel was the equally famous Venus Alley, where women plied their trade in small cubicles called "cribs". The red-light district brought miners and other men from all over the region and was openly tolerated by city officials until the 1920s as one of the last such urban districts in the U.S. The Dumas Brothel is now operated as a museum to Butte's rougher days.

In 1899, Standard Oil formed the Amalgamated Copper Mining Company. Not long after, the company changed its name to Anaconda Mining Company. The company engaged in questionable business practices, and at one point they even resorted to gunning down strikers in the Anaconda Road Massacre. In the 1920s, it was the fourth largest company in the world, and had a virtual monopoly over the mines in and around Butte. The prosperity continued up to the 1950s, when the Anaconda company switched its focus from the costly and dangerous practice of underground mining to open pit and strip mining. This marked the beginning of the end for the boom times in Butte.

Thousands of homes were destroyed to build the Berkeley Pit, which opened in 1955. At the time, it was the largest truck-operated open pit copper mine in the United States. Other strip mines were built in the area, a few of which are still operational. In 1977 the ARCO company purchased Anaconda Mining, and only three years later started shutting down mines. In 1982, all mining in the Berkeley Pit was suspended. The water pumps at the bottom of the pit were also shut down, which resulted in heavily acidic water filling up the pit. Only two years later the pit was classified as a Superfund environmental hazard site. Meanwhile, the acidic water continued to rise at an alarming rate. It was not until the 1990s that serious efforts to clean up the Berkeley Pit began. The situation gained even more attention after 342 migrating geese picked the Berkeley Pit water as a resting point, which would turn out to be their last. However, in November 2003 the Horseshoe Bend treatment facility went online and began treating and diverting some water that would have flowed into the pit. Ironically, the Berkeley Pit is also one of the city's biggest tourist attractions.

Today, Butte is a shadow of its former self. Most of the mine shafts still stand and the city still contains many old buildings from the boom times. The city now relies on the remnants of the mining industry, tourism, and services. Many areas of the city, especially the older areas near the mines, show signs of neglect and urban decay. The area around the city is also an environmental issue. Lead and arsenic contaminate the soil, and for a period of time in the 1990s the tap water was unsafe to drink.

Near cities to Butte

Near webcams to Butte

Butte travel services

choose from our international travel services offer:

cheap flights to Butte

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of four main cheap airline tickets and cheap flights online booking systems. We are happy to offer cheap airline tickets Butte, cheap flights Butte, also available cheap airline tickets to USA and to the whole world. Up to date cheap flights Butte deals also available.

cheap Butte hotels

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of main cheap hotels and accommodation online booking systems. We are happy to offer cheap hotels in Butte, USA hotel guide and cheap hotels and accommodation in lot of other world-wide destinations. Up to date cheap Butte hotel deals and discount accommodation tips also available.

cheap Butte vacations

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of main cheap vacations online booking systems. We are happy to offer cheap vacations in Butte, USA vacation rentals and cheap vacations in lot of other destinations world-wide. Up to date Butte vacation deals also available.

cheap car rentals in Butte

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of main car rentals online booking systems. We are happy to offer car rentals in Butte, car hire in USA and cheap car rental in lot other world-wide destinations. Up to date cheap Butte car hire deals also available.

Butte travel insurance

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of Essential Travel Ltd., leading online travel insurance company, we can offer you health travel insurance for Butte, accident health Butte travel insurance, all using our online Butte travel insurance form. We also offer travel insurance for other cities in USA. This offer is available for UK residents only.

Butte real estate

City Travel Guide comes with Butte real estate guide with several tips on home valuation, realtors comparison, secrets on finding the "right" home, loans guide and other helpful real estate advices. Our partners also maintain Butte property for sale and rental listings, real estate laws and reviews. We will try to help you with buying property in USA, choosing real estate agents, property finders, relocation help, and information for English speakers wanting to buy real estate in Butte.

Butte travel books

Butte travel guide books

Butte maps and atlases

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Butte, Montana".

Europe

North America

South America

Asia

Australia

Africa

world city travel guides

North America city travel guide

USA city travel guide

Butte, USA travel guide