In 1890, the Butte Land and Investment Company announced: “There’s only one way Butte can grow—South.” Building activity between the central business district and the railroad/warehouse district of South Butte rose to a fever pitch, with 221 houses constructed in South-Central Butte in the 1890s. Between 1891 and 1899, contractors built mirror homes at 654 and 652 Colorado. Both were essentially four-room shotgun houses except each also incorporated an unusual two-story shingled tower. 652 was completely remodeled; owners of 654 removed the tower's pyramidal roof sometime after World War II. The home’s decorative shingling and turned porch supports reflect the ready availability of mass-produced architectural elements and the era’s enthusiasm for contrasting wall textures. Insurance collector John Sidley, his wife Tillie, and his sister Marjorie, a stenographer, lived here in 1899. In 1904, a harness-maker and purveyor of “turf goods” (horseracing supplies) rented the home, followed by a miner, a plasterer, and a watchman. From 1928 to 1975, Emmett Richley, who worked for a mining machinery company, lived here, where he and wife Nell raised two daughters.
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