Nostalgia for Butte’s Elementary Schools of yesteryear

We got a ton of response to the recent article not only about the Butte School District Cookbook that is in its early stages of creation, but particularly the one about the old McKinley School Cookbook from 1981 that we found.  People found old friends names.  Old teachers.  Old memories.

McKinley was one of a handful of schools that were closed down throughout the 1980s after the closure of the Berkeley Pit as Butte's population fell and the old West Junior High became the consolidated West Elementary.  It got me to thinking about the students, the teachers and everyone involved with some of those schools.  How many of you were students at these old Butte Elementary schools?

MADISON ELEMENTARY

How many of you went to Madison Elementary?  Who are some of the teachers you remember?  Madison in now privately owned and is in the process of remodeling.  In its present state, it may be nicer than the days when the school bell rang each morning.

Madison is just a stone's throw away from another elementary from Butte's past.

WEBSTER GARFIELD ELEMENTARY

How many of you went to Webster-Garfield?  Now closed as an elementary, the building still serves the School District in several different ways, including as the campus for the Abe Lincoln Alternative School.

Schools on the Flats were not immune from closure in the 1980s.

HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY

Who went to Hawthorne?  The campus in the years since closure have seen it reborn as everything from a dance studio to a Catholic Church.  Hawthorne was the original location for Holy Spirit Church which has since moved east.  "Holy Hawthorne", however, still stands.

BLAINE ELEMENTARY

Blaine Elementary sits at the foot of Walkerville and in the shadow of the Lexington Mine.  Since closing down, Blaine Elementary has done time as a community center, a reception hall and even small storefronts.  Even though it is in Walkerville, it is still not the school that is highest on the hill.

SHERMAN ELEMENTARY

Overlooking Walkerville and the entire Summit Valley is Sherman Elementary which has served as everything from a photo studio to a pet resort and is now privately owned.