Alongside rich mining resources, Butte also has ample outdoor recreation surrounding the town. And it’s not a Montana vacation without exploring the Great Outdoors. Butte makes it easy, with several in-town adventures and a sprawling landscape surrounding the city.
What is special about Butte Montana?
Butte is Home to The World Museum of Mining
With over 50 exhibit buildings, endless artifacts and an underground mine tour, The World Museum of Mining is an amazing resource to anyone interested in the development of Butte and mining history.
Is Butte Montana beautiful?
The location of Butte is both beautiful and, well, rather ugly, all at the same time. On the good side, Butte is located right on the western edge of the Continental Divide in Montana. Granted, the mountains that form this portion of the Continental Divide here are not that tall (not rising above 9000 feet).
Why is Butte Montana toxic?
The tailings that still contain metals that could not be mined out are located in ponds near the Berkeley pit. From here, the toxic water makes its way into Silver Bow Creek (which runs through Butte) by seeping through with groundwater and over the surface in storm water runoff.
Why is Butte Montana so valuable?
The Butte mining district encompasses an area of approximately 2 by 4 miles which has produced huge commercial quantities of not only copper (21.5 billion pounds) but also significant amounts silver, gold, manganese, zinc, lead and molybdenum (table 1).
What happened in Butte Montana?
Despite the dominance of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte was never a company town. Other major events in the city’s history include the 1917 Speculator Mine disaster, the largest hard rock mining disaster in world history.
Butte, Montana.
| Butte | |
|---|---|
| County | Silver Bow |
| Settled | 1864 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 716.34 sq mi (1,855.32 km2) |
Why are people moving to Butte MT?
— Houses in Montana are selling fast and prices are skyrocketing — pushing some people to find a less expensive choice in Butte. “It just keeps climbing and climbing,” said Bill Markovich, owner of Markovich Real Estate. “Summer is high, summer is usually high.”
What is there to do in Butte Montana tonight?
10 Top-Rated Things to Do in Butte, Montana
- Experience the History of Butte.
- Explore the World Museum of Mining.
- Tour a Copper King Mansion.
- Visit the Mineral Museum.
- Check Out the Berkeley Pit.
- Commemorate the Past at the Granite Mountain Speculator Mine Memorial.
- Catch a Show at the Mother Lode Theatre.
- Explore the Outdoors.
What’s it like living in Butte Montana?
Living in Butte offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Butte there are a lot of bars and parks. Many young professionals live in Butte and residents tend to be conservative. The public schools in Butte are above average.
Do they still mine in Butte?
As Butte’s population and economy tanked, the struggle over cleanup began. About 370 people still work pulling copper and the metal molybdenum out of the area’s only remaining active mine, the Continental Pit.
How toxic is the Berkeley Pit in Butte Montana?
It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), about the acidity of Coca-Cola, lemon juice, or gastric acid. As a result, the pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals that leach from the rock, including copper, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.
How many miles of tunnels is Butte Montana?
10,000 miles
claimed to have 10,000 miles of tunnels beneath Butte’s surface, but scientists like Duaime were a bit skeptical.
Why is Butte called The Richest Hill on Earth?
Butte, once the largest city in the Rocky Mountains, and has been called the “Richest Hill on Earth” due to the mining operations of gold, silver, and copper. During the boom years of the late 1800s and early 1900s, Butte became a melting pot, including immigrants of Irish, Scandanavian, Serbian and Asian cultures.
Is Butte Montana a nice place to live?
Butte is a nice town. Everyone here knows each other and there’s lots of housing around the college. What I like about Butte is that the people are friendly and are willing to help others in need anytime. Butte also has a lot of historical buildings and an old mining place where people used to mine in the early 1900s.
What is the richest hill in the world?
Anaconda Hill, Butte, Montana, U.S.A.–richest hill in the world. Photographic prints–1900-1910. Stereographs–1900-1910.
How cold does it get in Butte Montana?
Butte generally has a semi-arid climate. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 5°F (-16°C) to 81°F (27°C) and is rarely below -14°F (-26°C) or above 89°F (32°C).
What is the cost of living in Butte Montana?
Butte-Silver Bow cost of living is 80.1
| COST OF LIVING | Butte-Silver Bow | Montana |
|---|---|---|
| Grocery | 97.8 | 99.6 |
| Health | 105.9 | 100.2 |
| Housing | 57.3 | 100.4 |
| Median Home Cost | $164,700 | $353,700 |
How much snow does Butte Montana get?
Climate Averages
| Butte-Silver Bow, Montana | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Rainfall | 12.6 in. | 38.1 in. |
| Snowfall | 53.7 in. | 27.8 in. |
| Precipitation | 103.7 days | 106.2 days |
| Sunny | 186 days | 205 days |
How old is butte Montana?
Butte began in the late 1800s as a gold and silver mining camp. At the turn of the century, the development of electricity and the industrialization of America resulted in a massive copper boom, and Butte flourished.
What is the difference between a mesa and a butte?
Mesas are isolated, broad flat-topped mountains with at least one steep side. Mesas are abundant in the southwestern states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. Buttes are smaller flat topped mountains or hills with steep slopes on all sides.
What kind of town is Butte Montana?
Butte is a city in southwestern Montana established as a mining camp in the 1860s in the northern Rocky Mountains straddling the Continental Divide.