{"id":3613,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:16","latitude":46.0056379591646447124730912037193775177001953125,"longitude":-112.5356733798980712890625,"title":"654 South Colorado","subtitle":"Butte Historic District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/5482b71adf4e6d8289ecd8b05fc1570b.jpg","address":"654 South Colorado Street, Butte, MT","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Historic Montana"],"description":"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&#039;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.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"private","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/b2694698-4c33-4e3d-b1f9-d8b8740bf6dc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read more about the Butte Historic District</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/9ecb5fd7-e392-42a7-a16e-94df0f020422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See other photographs of the Butte Historic District</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/5482b71adf4e6d8289ecd8b05fc1570b.jpg":{"id":6380,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"654 S Colorado, Butte, MT","description":"View of facade | Realtor photo from https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/654-S-Colorado-St-Butte-MT-59701/78194303_zpid/. | 2024 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/5482b71adf4e6d8289ecd8b05fc1570b.jpg"}}}