135 East Park

A row of one-story frame shops including a harness maker, two carpenters, a cobbler, a saloon, a bakery, and a millinery filled this block in the 1880s. By 1890, most had been replaced. The present two-story storefront and lodging house replaced a blacksmith shop. A grocery store was the first ground-floor tenant; furnished rooms were upstairs, and a stable stood at the rear.

Seven rooftop skylights well illuminated the second story where, in 1900, Josephine Stacy had fifteen male lodgers and a female cook in her furnished rooms. Tenants included a carpenter, house painter, plumber, and five copper miners. Stacy and a string of other lodge-keepers after her leased the second floor.

Various businesses occupied the storefront including the Western Meat Company from 1928 to 1958. The building’s fine cast-iron storefront, once a common element in Butte, incorporates fluted iron pilasters with floral designs, a scalloped metal cornice, and corner brackets. Elaborately embellished window hoods with a central scroll and circle ornament the upper story.