Ghost Signs Of Uptown Butte, Montana's Fading Painted History

Welcome to Butte for the annual Montana Folk Festival. There is certainly a lot to see and do on the festival grounds and in Uptown Butte. You'll undoubtedly be spending a great deal of time Uptown and a lot of living history is on display every day.

Copper King Mansion. Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media

Of course you are going to notice the incredible early 20th Century architecture that is in abundance in Uptown Butte. The Copper King Mansion is a great place to tour if you can find an opening but even if you just take a walking tour of Uptown, you'll see a lot more than architecture.

On many older buildings Uptown, you are going to find a lot of advertisements from decades gone by. They are called "ghost signs" and they are all over Uptown. Some are gigantic and easily read, like this series of signs on East Park Street.

Some, like the huge Coca Cola advert on the side of the Hirbour Tower are a little harder to deciper.

Some are smaller, some are harder to find, but all speak silent volumes on daily life in Uptown Butte as the mining boom took hold.

These ghost signs are as much a part of our unique heritage as the gallows frames themselves and these are just a small sampling of all of the somewhat hidden eye-candy that you will find during your stay here in the Mining City.

Here are some more ghost signs to check out.

Butte's Ghost Signs Part 1

Uptown Butte was once one of the largest urban centers in the Northwest and the bustling heart of a thriving Mining City. Here is the first in a series of some of the ghost signs you can see Uptown that have survived through the decades.

Gallery Credit: Gallery Credit: Tommy O/Townsquare Media

"Ghost Signs" of Uptown Butte Part 2

Gallery Credit: Gallery Credit: Tommy O/Townsquare Media

Know Your Butte History: Standing Mine Headframes

Dozens of mine headframes used to dot the Butte hill but most have since been torn down or swallowed by the Pit. Here are the ones that still tower proudly over our town.

Gallery Credit: Tommy O, Townsquare Media