FIRST - Copper Mine Site - Butte, MT - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

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FIRST - Copper Mine Site - Butte, MT

in First of its Kind

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 381075 N 5097079

A mine in which 43 men died during its near century long period of operation, this was the original copper mine in Butte, coincidentally named the "Original Mine".

Though the Original Mine was underway by 1878, the three remaining structures on the site, the headframe, the compressor house and the hoist house weren't constructed until about 1900. The air compressors within the compressor house were what provided all the power for the mine's rock drills, as well as any other equipment that operated underground.

The compressor house, the hoist house and the 100 foot tall (or more) steel headframe have been saved from demolition and are now displayed as historic artefacts, representative of the city's copper mining heritage. This is entirely appropriate, as Butte, for more than a century was the "copper mining king" of the world, producing more copper (as well as zinc, lead, silver and gold) than any other city in the world. From 1880 to 2000 the Butte Hill produced 22,799,000,000 pounds of copper, 4,909,202,540 pounds of zinc, 725,486,448 ounces of silver and 2,922,466 ounces of gold.

The site of the Original Mine was restored beginning in 2009 and is now used as a concert venue, as well as a tourist draw.

A great deal of the copper was and is under the city and was mined by many mines which created over 10,000 miles of tunnels under the city with some shafts reaching deeper than a mile below the surface.

The Original Mine

Original Mine [1878/1898-ca. 1960, photo #13, 14]: Encompassing two full city blocks between Main, Montana, Woolman and Copper Streets, the Original Mine was the site of some of the earliest mining in Butte. Early pioneers found small pits dug by early prospectors with elk horn near the site of the Original Mine. William Clark patented Lot #39, launching the Original Mine in 1878, and two years later, Granville Stuart patented claims for Lots 86a and b. The shaft was driven to the 1,000-foot level by 1897 with 20 men working underground, six top men and three hoist engineers. The existing structures were built in 1898; they include a brick hoist house, compressor house and a headframe. By 1902, the mine employed 300 men who were working underground, twenty topmen, and three engineers. By 1906, the compressor house had four steam air compressors and two Ingersoll-Sergeant air compressors driven by twin induction motors. ACM obtained these mining properties in 1910.
From the NRHP Registration Form