Butte
Gale Guide to Cities of the United States:
Top
Butte, Montana
Once dependent almost solely on the mining industry—in the early 1900s it was called "the richest hill on earth" because of the valuable ores that lay beneath it—Butte, like many older American cities, is in the midst of a transition toward a more diversified economy. With easy access to western and midwestern markets, Butte is one of the west's major transportation hubs; the city is also moving into enterprises related to energy research and high-altitude sports training. Despite the changes underway, Butte retains its multiethnic heritage and its connection to the breathtaking natural beauty of the surrounding Rocky Mountains. For statistical and other purposes, Butte is traditionally linked with Silver Bow County.
The City in Brief
| 1864 (incorporated, 1879) | |
| Chief Executive Paul Babb (since 2005) | |
| 37,205 | |
| 33,336 | |
| 33,892 | |
| 32,519 | |
| 1.6% | |
| 605th | |
| 806th | |
| 887th | |
| 38,092 | |
| 33,941 | |
| 34,606 | |
| 1.9% | |
| 1,262 | |
| 716.2 square miles (2000) | |
| ranges from 5,484 to 6,463 feet above sea level | |
| 53.2° F (maximum), 27.1° F (minimum) | |
| 12.75 inches | |
| Transportation, energy research, medicine, tourism | |
| 6.0% (January 2005, Silver Bow County) | |
| $17,068 (2000) | |
| Not reported | |
| Not reported | |
| Not reported | |
| Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology | |
| Montana Standard |
Top
A city of southwest Montana south-southwest of Helena. It has been a mining center since its settlement in the 1860s and enjoyed its greatest importance after the discovery of copper deposits in 1880. Population: 32,100.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Top
Butte
Butte (byūt), city (1990 pop. 33,336), seat of Silver Bow co., SW Mont.; inc. 1879. It is a trade, ranching, and industrial center. Mining dominated the city's life and economy from its establishment in 1862. Copper, as well as zinc, silver, manganese, gold, lead, molybdenum, and arsenic have been extracted from mines in the region; copper is still mined.
First an 1860s gold-hunters' camp, then an 1870s silver center, Butte gained importance when copper was discovered (c.1880) and Marcus Daly with his Anaconda Copper Mining Company began to exploit the "richest hill on earth." A huge open-pit mine, the Berkeley, opened in 1955; its expansion forced the relocation of one fifth of Butte's population.
"The Pit" was abandoned in 1982 and has filled with contaminated water draining from surrounding mines. The city, now the largest Superfund site in the nation, has become, in effect, a laboratory for environmental resuscitation efforts, and a number of pollution-remediation companies are based there. Montana Tech of the Univ. of the Montana is also in the city, and Butte is the headquarters of Deerlodge National Forest. Local attractions include museums of mining and minerals, Our Lady of the Rockies, and the Copper King Mansion, once the home of William A. Clark.
AccuWeather:
Top
Butte, MT
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Gale Guide to Cities of the United States
Cities of the United States. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
Read more
Mentioned in
mesa-butte
(geography)
Debutts
(family name)
Rock Creek Butte
(mountain)
Butte: Communications
(city, Montana)
Butte: Transportation
(city, Montana)
» More