When the building housing the Miners' Savings Bank burned in 1912 (with no loss of depositors' money, incidentally), they rebuilt immediately, reopening in their own building in 1913. At the time, a new boom in copper mining in Butte was just beginning and, as was the norm at the time, the bank was built with extra storys above as housing for the influx of miners to the town. At one time the rooms above housed both a bootlegger and a prohibition agent, possibly at the time one not known to the other.
After the bank closed, the lower floor reverted to commercial/retail space, while the upper floors remained in use as housing. Recently part of the one time bank has become the
Miner's Hotel, a boutique hotel which advertises itself as "Butte's Only Boutique Hotel". Opened in 2016, the hotel presently has eight guest rooms available and we do know that in 2017 they are adding four more handicapped accessible guest rooms. They do mention that, due to the historic nature of the hotel, there is no elevator - but they do have bellhop service.
Compare this building with that of the
Metals Bank down the street and it will become evident that this was, indeed, the bank of the miners, while the Metals Bank was the bank of the mine owners.
MINERS' SAVINGS BANK
Butte experienced its second mining boom in the teens before World War I. The Miner’s Bank is indicative of the healthy economy during these years when copper rose to a high of twenty cents a pound. On September 1, 1912, fire claimed the Thomas Block, which housed the Miner’s Savings Bank. Depositors suffered no losses and the bank immediately planned to rebuild. John Shackleton designed and constructed the current building, completed in 1913. A flat roof, decorative brickwork, large display windows flanking three recessed entries, and rows of windows above the street level reflect the high demand for office and living space. A row of concrete “M”s uniquely embellishes the space between the first and second floors. The bank occupied a ground floor office until the 1960s. Upstairs, Lawrence and Katherine Graves were the longtime proprietors of the Miner’s Bank Block Furnished Rooms. In 1930, among their thirty-five lodgers were an architect, an actress, a teacher, miners, and salesmen. Also curiously lodged under the same roof were government Prohibition agent Carrol Olson and declared bootlegger Henry Allexis.
From the NRHP plaque at the building