In all probability built in 1907 as a funeral parlor, this two story building was built with a brown brick façade, divided into three bays above and what now appears to be four bays below. An overhanging presser metal cornice with a string of large modillions, then slightly smaller dentils below, is situated just below the roof line which has another pressed metal molding along its edge. Corner brick pilasters are accented with sets of molded capitals, probably terra cotta.
The lower floor, with four bays defined by three large windows and a recessed entry door, all with glass transoms above, has been recovered with faux brick in later years, neither the colour or the type matching the rest of the building.
In 1974 the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie Number 11, purchased the building and remain there today. Prior to 1974, when they moved into this building, Aerie Number 11 had been knocking around Butte for 75 years, the Aerie having been chartered in 1899, a year or less after Aerie #1, the Mother Aerie, was established in Seattle in 1898.
Since its founding, the F.O.E. has expanded to become an international organization with nearly 1 million members in several thousand individual local Aeries throughout the U.S. and
Canada, raising and contributing more than $100 million annually to charities benefiting children, health research, and the elderly.
JOSEPH RICHARDS, UNDERTAKER
Joseph Richards came to Butte in 1892 and established an undertaking parlor in the Stephens Block on West Park. Victorian-era funerals were customarily conducted from the home of the deceased. It was the undertaker’s job to help the family prepare the body, provide the casket and mourning paraphernalia, and make burial arrangements. As undertaking establishments began to conduct funerals on the premises, the need arose for more diverse facilities. In 1907, Richards built this building as a funeral home, which offered a parlor for services, morgue, workroom, casket display room, and upstairs living quarters. It was the first such facility built in Butte, and the first in Montana to possess a motorized hearse. Although decorative sandstone covers the original first floor brick, the three display windows and transoms are unchanged. The original Renaissance Revival styling is readily evident in the handsome three-bay second story, which features a polygonal oriel window, beveled glass transoms, and stone trim. In 1974, the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #11 purchased the building for use as a lodge.
From the NRHP plaque at the building