The first recorded mention of Lot 8, Block 29 in Butte Townsite was filed in April of 1876. It declared that the block lay within the boundary of the famed Smokehouse Quartz Lode Mining claim. This was the northwest corner of Park and Main Streets, and would eventually become the Lizzie Block. The word “Block” here refers to a large multi-use building, rather than a city block.
Northwest corner Park and Main today
Where the Lizzie block once stood, across from the Metals Bank building at Park and Main now sits an undistinguished single story bar called the Party Palace. A poor ornament for the city’s key corner, it’s a low slung brick and glass joint, deeply inset under a green structural steel roof festooned with shamrocks. It thunders with bass-heavy country music and patrons shouting into the wee hours on the street every Saturday night. This is not in keeping with the normal quiet of that corner, although it was not always so peaceful.
The shamrocks were an attempt to catch a free St. Patrick’s Day ride along with the M&M bar next door on Main. M&M was always nothing but that; from 1890 the most interesting bar in Butte. It was an authentic relic of the uptown’s early joyride. The M&M held a bar along one wall and a grill along the other, a cigar counter and a gaming room in the back. The place had no locks on its doors, operated 24/7, and poured gallons of Old Bushmills in mid-March of each year. With a historical majority and mass cultural adoption, the Irish and near-Irish alike turned the bar into a dense mosh pit, while the diner side of the place served up loads of corned beef and cabbage. From midnight to midnight on St. Pat’s Day. (See note #1)
Birth of the Lizzie Block
On October 28,1876, Daniel Dellinger, proprietor of Butte’s first hardware store, purchased the two lots at the northwest corner of Park and Main for $20.00. He sold the property three years later to Joseph Hyde for $15,000. Hyde associated with the W.A. Clark banks in Deer Lodge and Butte, and was a member of the territorial legislature that made Butte a city in 1879. Hyde and Dellinger did business together as an eponymously named hardware store in the 100 block of North Main.
A frame structure soon went up on the lot. It was initially occupied by a pair of early Butte realtors, a police magistrate, and several others.
Fire ravished much of this area of Main street in 1879. Stone and brick construction typical of a maturing city replaced the wood frame structures of the pioneer boom town. In 1884, Hyde cleared his corner for a new three story Lizzie Block, named for his daughter. It was a three story affair, with 21 rooms on the second and third floors and store frontage off the sidewalk level. It also had a basement, about which more follows.
A victim of its environment?
It almost immediately secured a dubious reputation. The Butte Miner of January 29, 1886 cited city ordinance #44 of two years earlier. It prohibited prostitution, except in “Blocks Nos 27 1n 28, and east of Main street of said city, (as well as) Blocks Nos 37, 42, 43, 52 and 53, known as Chinatown.”
The paper went on to accuse the Lizzie Block, “one of the best-known of these houses in the heart of the business portion of the city. While it has been open but a short time, it has made a reputation for itself which will take a long time to remove.” The woman who leased it claimed to be unaware of the character of the tenants rooming there, but had “a number of roomers prominent as beer-jerkers and others known to be public prostitutes.” The Miner called for the cleaning out of “such a class of clientele” from this “new and handsome property.” (see note #2)
The problem wasn’t so much the existence of prostitution as confining it to what the ordinance called “the restricted zone.” Butte was a mining town full of hard working men with full pockets on payday. It was the job of others to contrive of ways to empty those pockets. Booze, gambling and prostitution thrived, while city government tried to accommodate everyone as best it could.
Downstairs, stressing the respectable
The Tivoli beer hall, not associated with the Butte’s Tivoli brewery or concert hall, opened in December of 1885, and occupied the entire basement of the Lizzie Block. Owner Alexander Grant furnished it with a 25 foot mahogany bar backed by a 13 x 7’ French plate mirror. The hall held 40 cherry tables and 200 chairs imported from Austria. It also featured female beer jerkers, a stage, piano and amateur vocalists. A series of “neat wine rooms” took up a corner near the stage.
As so many restaurants and bars do, the Tivoli folded within the year, and the basement passed into the hands of its creditors. It reopened as a bowling alley/shooting gallery in the summer of 1886.
Upstairs, Smiling Albert’s
Upstairs from the Tivoli, another beer hall occupied the same corner at street level. Originally known as Smiling Albert’s, it touted a 24 hour lunch, specializing in Boston baked beans, brown bread and clam chowder.
W.P. Schussler bought and renovated the place, renaming it the Arcade. It had both front and rear entrances and upper rooms for card or club parties, which reads like code for wine rooms as well.
A point of interest was the bar’s mineral cabinet, with mining specimens, along with “curios, fancy pictures, and genuine silverware.”
The Sump, lived down to its name
Back downstairs, by 1893 Adolph Reichle and Arthur Schimpf transitioned the Tivoli into the Sump. The basement of the Lizzie Block established itself as a place where a man could go for a cheap beer, a hand of cards and a fight. One night that year a “drunken row” broke out among several “foreigners,” drawing the dauntless Butte policeman Jere Murphy’s attention. He attempted to quell the ruckus, but several of the group set upon him. The Montana Standard reported that “Jere gave a fine account of himself, and arrested and jailed three whose names are unpronounceable.”
A good indicator of the Sump’s status was its role as evening caretaker of the indigent. In April of 1894, the Combination saloon a couple of doors from the Sump kept its floors and sidewalks wet to discourage overnighters. Prior to that, from 15 to 30 men a night slept there. They migrated to the friendlier confines of the Sump, now handling at least 180 men every night (see note 3). So it was a most appropriate venue for a staging of ‘Coxey’s Army’ the following year. Unemployment was high in Butte then, a bust cycle resulting from the Panic of 1893. The “army” was a nationwide assortment of the unemployed, who proposed to march en masse to Washington DC and demand work.
Coxey’s Army assembles.
As a ‘sump’ is the lowest spot in a basement (or mine shaft) where idle water collects, it seemed a fitting choice for idled men to gather. The Butte Miner observed that “there would be no need of Coxey’s army if there were no men in the Sump.”
The Miner advocated for the formation of a Butte regiment, pledging for the man “who has sought in vain for employment and has no means of livelihood” that “his regiment will be properly cared for on the road, join the unterrified and terrorizing army of commonweal’s and march bravely toward the rising sun.”
As it happened, on the night of April 7th, 1894, an estimated two to three thousand men attended an outdoor meeting of Coxey’s industrial army. They formed up in front of the Sump, its headquarters and marched to the square of the court house on Granite street. The movement’s leader, William Hogan demanded the issuance of bonds to improve country roads and adoption of free coinage of silver. This was always a winning stance in mining country. A Major Camp spoke and compared the freeing of white slaves to the emancipation of black ones. He then addressed the men who “by force of circumstances were compelled to sleep on a hard floor in the Sump.” “I used to be a farmer, and I wouldn’t let my hogs sleep as these poor men have to.”
“You men are not going to Washington with arms, but are going with empty stomachs and in rags, which will appeal to legislators more eloquently than could a Clay or a Webster. Camp on their trail. Corner the senators and tell them they must do something for you. We must march, singing, ‘We are coming Grover Cleveland, 300,000 strong.’”
Having picked up unemployed rail workers in Tacoma, Portland and Spokane, the addition of many idled miners made for a considerable mass of manpower under Hogan. Two weeks after the Butte meeting, on April 21, 1894, Hogan and 500 of the ‘army’ took over a Union Pacific train. They enjoyed local support as they headed east, evading capture until reaching Forsyth, Montana. Federal troops apprehended and dispersed the group there. This deployment of federal forces presaged their use later in the year in breaking up the Pullman strike.
Business as usual down in the Sump
After the “army’s” unsuccessful march, life returned to normal. In April of 1895, policeman Murphy was investigating the passing of a bad check at the First National Bank. He arrested the culprit, who stated he received the check from a man at the Sump. Upon going there, the originator of the check was found “drunk and down in one corner of the room.”
Unfortunately, the Sump somehow survived into the next century. As late as 1905, it remained a magnet for “brake beam tourists,” one of many sobriquets for hobos.
On the fourth of July that year, one of their number got up on a keg and began orating about hoisting old Glory, draping the bunting and honoring our founders. He said; “our ancestors gave us free speech and a free press, and then made the mistake of their lives by not giving us free beer.”
He then assailed the wealthy, naming several who were then in the penitentiary. They were “so penurious that they would rob a cheese of its smell.”
“I have only assimilated sixteen beers, two whisky sours and three cocktails, all of which I’ve managed to keep down with that excellent free lunch at the other end of the bar. I now feel as if I could talk all day. “
“In old revolutionary times Benedict Arnold tried to barter off the whole country to its enemies. Yet he was no more guilty of treason than the modern man who endeavors to steal a huge slice of the nation. and its industries.”
He eventually yielded the floor to his companion, ‘Buttons’ who proceeded to sing the national anthem “in any key he feels like, while I proceed to the bar and discuss the exhilarating qualities of your excellent beer.”
Sump and Atlantic bars in contrast
The Sump owners, Reichle and Schimpf did alright for themselves. They built what became the Atlantic Bar at 56 West Park in 1897. It carried imported German beers and boasted of the longest bar (unproven claim of 250 feet) in the world. Renowned for its free lunch, it operated until 1927. A new Atlantic opened at 46 West Park in 1940, and ran until 1969. Fire destroyed both locations, one in 1969, the other in 1974.
Enforcement of Prohibition began in 1920. Locally, law enforcement largely ignored all but the most overt scofflaws in Butte. The Butte Evening News noted; “a man must almost fight to get a foothold on the rail,” as a score of bartenders at the Atlantic served 3,000 to 4,000 thirsty patrons per day. It further observed that “liquor cannot be legally procured in Montana for love or money. Meantime, (owning) a saloon in Butte is as good as a copper mine.”
The Arcade; but first, the other arcade
The name ‘Arcade’ (see note 4) is a bit confusing. There was a penny arcade at 39 North Main, that opened in February of 1909. An Edison production with picture and music machines., it proved popular from its opening day. Short coin operated picture shows were of history, travel, art, drama, sports and humor. The music shows featured band, orchestra and vocals of all sorts. These programs were all changed out every few days.
As these things tend to run their course, the penny arcade needed a new gimmick. It exhibited what they called an Aztec mummy – “the first of its kind exhibited in Butte.” It was said to be the remains of Princess Wa-Me-Ta, found in Arizona by explorers of the cliff dwellings. Scientists said Wa-Me-Ta was 1000-2000 years old. The arcade extended an invitation to Butte physicians to inspect the mummy for themselves.
An epilogue to this tale happened in May of 1928, when employees at the Jones Storage warehouse investigated a large box, left there nine years earlier. Upon opening it, they were horrified to find the body of a mummified Indian. Police and coroner broke off their investigation when they determined that the mummy had died “approximately 40 centuries ago.”
Three months later the penny arcade brought in what was reputed to be a petrified man. It was advertised as found by a trapper on a sand bar in the Missouri river, half buried in the wet sand. The trapper notified authorities, and ‘doctors and scientists went out to examine it.” He then took it on the road for exhibit. The hands were bound by a petrified rawhide thong and there was a bullet hole in the forehead of the man. Why foul play wasn’t investigated was left unaddressed.
Murphy stays busy
In 1918, police chief Jere Murphy arrested an employee of the penny arcade, on a charge of running a gaming operation. A man testified that he was induced to throw balls at a target to win a turkey. He won, but received no turkey. Chief Murphy vowed to visit the place frequently to personally enforce the laws pertaining to lotteries and gambling.
Just a year later, police arrested the proprietor of the penny arcade and charged her with bootlegging. As Prohibition began that year, officers hauled in a drunken 16 year old girl and her boyfriend. Both implicated the arcade. Its owner denied having liquor on the premises, but a search turned up two quarts of port wine and a case of Centennial beer.
A wider view of the Lizzie Block
Joseph Hyde, who had bought the Lizzie Block for $15,000 sold it to a Butte business syndicate in 1906 for $120,000. For forty feet of frontage on Park and 100 feet on Main, each linear foot went for an average of $2,500, which was big money at the time. As the uptown boomed, some of this premium was due to a new eight story State Savings bank building (see note #5) going up across the street. Current residents at the Lizzie included the Northern Pacific ticket office, Pritchard and Harrison, Carl Engel sporting goods, Itkin’s jewelry store, and the Butte Street Car company. The upper floors held offices and apartments.
Louis Dreibelbis owned the building in 1930, and planned to raze the Lizzie Block to create a new eight story building on the site. The Great Depression derailed those plans, and the Lizzie Block stuck around unchanged for another quarter century. In various times, the ground floor hosted the Arcade bar, Jacobs boot hat and valise store, a Northern Pacific ticket office, Carl Engle’s sporting goods store and the home of Butte’s civil air patrol.
The real Arcade
The Arcade bar held the ground level at the northwest corner of Park and Main Streets, across from the Metals Bank building during the late 1930s. It had entrances facing both streets.
Depression era photographer Arthur Rothstein travelled the country for the Farm Security Administration, as did Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks and Walker Evans. Along the way, he captured some iconic photos of America in flux. Perhaps his most memorable shot was one of a farmer and his son in Cimarron County Oklahoma, seeking shelter as a dust storm approaches.
Taken three years later, Rothstein’s work in Butte similarly captures its time. With the economy stuck in neutral, men were idled from the mines. They gathered on corners to seek work or just hang out. He caught a couple of scenes at the Arcade which nearly speak for themselves.
And maybe everyone did hang out at the Arcade. it was at the heart of the mining city, where a man might be closest to hearing any hopeful news. The Arcade knew how to leverage its popularity during a lean time. It adopted the motto: “If he’s not at the Arcade, he isn’t in town.”
The Arcade featured Blatz beer, a Milwaukee product brewed from 1851 through 1959. That was a nice run for the brewer, though not one notable for fine brewing. One could also get some interesting mixed drinks at the Arcade, like champagne cocktails and ginsicles. These were drinks that could lend themselves to dilution as required, and variable pricing. In New Orleans, a female dancer would ask a bar patron to buy her a drink. She would then order a champagne cocktail, and the bar would charge whatever it wanted for the 7Up she was served. Caveat emptor.
Trading down at Park and Main
By 1954, the upper two floors of the Lizzie block had been vacant for some years. The whole building was demolished for construction of a single story business. The Montana Standard heralded the proposed building as “ultra-modern.” Its construction anticipated future expansion by allowing for additional stories to be added later.
The enthusiasm for this corner died down with the building of a generic looking Rexall drug store there. It did business as the Main Drug until 1970. It was then purchased by Diversified Realty for $60,000 on a zero interest note. That firm looked to sell to another buyer as soon as possible. It took two years, and sold for the same price Diversified paid. Supply and demand had long since leveled out in uptown Butte.
Up to now-ish.
The Party Palace got going on this corner in 2001, following nine years of vacancy. It has remained popular, loud and a frequent contributor to the local police blotter for the past two decades. Still a big step up from the sump.
In 2019, a new project paid homage to the memory of the old Lizzie Block. Lizzie Block Alley runs north and south behind Main Street from Broadway into the Lizzie’s spot on Park. Local residents dressed up the alley in planters and lights. They brought in seats, and movies and music commenced. It didn’t make it past the Covid era, but that’s the nature of boom and bust. Butte has always had an admirable ability to take a wreck and find a way to celebrate it.
Perhaps the Party Palace is right where it belongs, after all.
Notes
Note 1: In an uptown that could ill afford the loss, the M&M burned to the ground in 2021. This was an all too familiar end to many of the best old things in uptown Butte.
The M&M Bar and Grill reopened right next door to the ruins of its century-0ld self. For more into, check out https://www.mandmbarandcafe.com/history
Note 2: The Butte Miner was bought by W.A. Clark in 1881, championing Clark’s interests and Democrat party causes. It was also a booster of civilization in fast-developing and free wheeling Butte. In its January 30, 1886 edition, the Miner applauded raids on the “vile dives on Galena Street and other sections of the city.” It then added a short position statement:
Note 3: Micky Malia of the Montana Standard recalled that during an 1893 visit to the Sump, Avalon, M&M and Combination, he and a friend counted 167 men asleep on the floors. “They didn’t seem to mind the poor devils sleeping on the floor. Some of the gamblers gave them newspapers to lie on.” (February 9, 1936)
Note 4: There was also an Arcade Saloon on Utah Avenue; at least in 1905. It was a rough place, and not to be confused with the Arcade at Park and Main.
Note 5: This is today’s Metals Bank Building, represented in an earlier essay at https://lafayettesquarearchives.com/?p=4044
Resources
An editorial about prostitution in Butte, as well as the 1884 ordinance regulating it appears in the Butte Miner of January 29, 1886.
Background on Reichle and Schimpf from Dick Gibson in the Montana Standard of December 23, 2019.
Information on the Atlantic Bar and quotes from Butte Evening News extracted from Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men blog, by Jack Sullivan; February 8, 2005.
A fight at the Sump from the Montana Standard of May, 1893.
Sleeping arrangements at the Combination and Sump from the Butte Miner of April 19,1894.
Meeting of Coxey’s Army at the Sump from the Butte Miner; April 5, 1894 and April 8, 1894.
A good summary of the Coxey movement, and interesting trivia like its influence on L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz resides in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxey’s_Army
Sale of Lizzie Block in 1906 from Butte Evening News of December 29, 1906 and Butte Miner of December 30, 1906
Hobo’s July 4th speech at the Sump from Butte Tribune Review of July 8, 1905.
A great discussion of women and winerooms of the Victorian era appears, by Richard F Selcer; 01/24/2019; at Historynet at https://www.historynet.com/wine-women-andwhats-wrong/
Further resources
Chief Murphy visits penny arcade from Butte Miner of November 23, 1918.
Holiday shopping in Butte from the Montana Standard of December 20, 1928.
The discovery of the Indian mummy was from the Montana Standard of May 19,1928
A good resource and album of Arthur Rothstein’s work appears in the Big Sky Journal of 2016; by Aaron Parrett. https://bigskyjournal.com/images-of-the-west-arthur-rothstein-in-butte/ This is also the source for photos of both Arcade and Cimarron County, OK.
History of the earliest acquisition of the lots for, and building of the Lizzie Block by Daniel Dellinger and Joseph Hyde from the Butte Miner of August 15, 1925.
Coverage of the demolition of the Lizzie Block from the Montana Standard of April 25, 1954.
The sale of Main Drug is covered by the Montana Standard of November 26, 1970 and January 25, 1972
Ever enlightening Dick Gibson gave a quick history of the Lizzie Block in a Montana Standard article from May 16, 2016. It provides background on Arthur Rothstein, and a story about former US senator Burton K. Wheeler.
