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History of Washoe
Washoe, Montana is nestled at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains. In 1903, Fred and Annie Bartels purchased the land from the U. S. Government.Coal mining was a thriving industry in this area. Anaconda Copper Company purchased the land from the Bartels in 1906 and opened a mine from which they moved coal by train to Anaconda, Montana, to run their copper smelters. Washoe (named after a Nevada Indian tribe) became a company town. If you visit Anaconda, you will see the name Washoe on the smelter, a theater, a street, and other places.
This picture was taken around 1922, and shows wagon tracks along the much used road. The large building in the center is the company store and community hall. Immediately to its right is the mine office and post office,the building that became our quilt shop. The flagpole in front of the building is still here. The school is above the company store, and Dr. Beltzer's office is above the mine office. To the far right is the home belonging to the superintendent of the mines. Behind it is the office manager and accountant's house. There were two more houses built for the store manager and the postmaster. To the far left is one of the houses of company row, which consisted of two rows of homes for workers to live in.
In addition to the above buildings, there were boarding houses, a teacherage, a church, and a train line with a round house.Many people built their own homes, but they did not own the land they built on. The area started to decline in 1936 because Anaconda no longer needed the coal for their operation, as electricity was cheaper. At that time many homes were sold and moved to surrounding towns. Only eight of the original homes remain. The final blow to the community was losing the railroad in 1953, making coal mining no longer viable.
The first school was held in a house in Company Row. In 1907, the white two-story school seen in the above photograph was built. This new school had 8 rooms, a bell tower, playground and outhouses. It later burned and classes returned to Company Row until a new two-story brick school replaced it in 1924. The last class attended school there in 1954 -55 and the building is now a private residence.
This early picture shows some of the homes in the Washoe area. Look closely to see the ripe sunflowers and smoke from a cook stove.
The Women's Club of Washoe purchased a home which they converted into a church and club meeting facility. It was used on many social occasions. There was always Sunday school in the building and occasionally a regular church service when a visiting minister would come through. Funerals were also held there.
The Washoe post office was officially established in 1907. The 950 residents, the Smith Mine, and the Scotch Coulee residents all received their mail here. The post office closed in 1959. The wall of mail boxes and the windows in it survive as part of the Bearcreek Saloon, two miles to the east. The Saloon runs pig races and one of the windows is now used as the betting window. Washoe Quilt Shoppe sponsors one of the pigs, named Fat Quarters.
The mines have been torn down and the land reclaimed, except for the Smith Mine and some of the Scotch Coulee mine buildings. The store and community hall was taken over the hill to Red Lodge and became a dance hall that later burned down.
The picture on the left was given to us by the tax office. It shows our building in 1960 when the white paint still remained. When our refurbishing started all of the white paint had disappeared. Most of the integrity of the building has been preserved, but we have also added further space with an addition.
Many people stop by the quilt shop on their way to Red Lodge, Cody, Wyoming, or Yellowstone National Park. The most often used phrase is, "I can't believe there is a shop in the middle of nowhere." The next most often heard phrase is "There is a symbol for ghost town beside Washoe on my map." They are assured the population is 21 (when everyone is home) and none of them are ghosts. We, however, are excited we are on the map.
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