My friends here in Montana poke fun at me because of my affinity for Butte. What used to be a booming copper mining town, downtown Butte now appears as a desolate reminder of an opulent past, with its architectural grandiose ranging from Victorian to Art Deco. I walked the area on a Sunday afternoon, yet the only people outside were those on the patio of the local watering hole. At some points it was a little unnerving with how quiet the streets were. I got the impression from a couple locals, staring "you're not from around here, are you?" I read on a sign Butte claimed once to be the "richest city in the country," and it does show. However, it also shows much of it's decline. A lot of the structures don't seem to be preserved or even occupied for that matter. I don't mean to discredit Butte as a city, in fact, I love it. It has a quirkiness only it's history can provide. The architecture leaves to your imagination what used to be, locked in time without the distractions of contemporary facades. Heck, I even saw a guy ride a horse to the grocery store. How's that for a time warp?
These were taken with an iPhone, and edited.
