403 East Eighth Street
Economic solidarity and frugal ingenuity define the Goosetown District, which attracted workers from across the globe. Housing was scarce as Goosetown matured in the shadow of the Big Stack. A small, simple worker’s cottage stood on this lot at least by the mid-1910s. Early owner and smelterman Ernest Stead, his wife Mary, and their two children were in residence by 1920. The Steads were both recent English immigrants. The property changed hands and by 1930, newlyweds Ann and Rufus Horsfall rented the house from Elmer Barnett, who lived next door. Ann and Rufus were also English born and came to the United States as children. Rufus was a molder at the Anaconda Company’s foundry. In 1935, Joseph Bickerstaff purchased the property and enlarged the house, incorporating the older cottage into the plan. A leaded glass window and portions of a stone foundation provide clues to the home’s early origins. Illuminating this cottage is one of Anaconda's original streetlights, a legacy of the foundry where it was made, and of the copper industry that electrified America.
From the NRHP Plaque