ANACONDA - The giant smelter stack that looms over the city of Anaconda was shut down permanently 45 years ago, forever changing the economy of Anaconda and Butte, but this massive monument to industry still has significance today.
Watch: History behind the Smelter Stack; the largest free-standing brick structure in the world
“Thirty-two hundred people in Butte and Anaconda that lost their jobs on that day when they made that decision,” said Fritz Daily, who was a state legislator at the time of the closing.
It was Sept. 29, 1980, when the Atlantic-Richfield Co. closed the smelter. The 585-foot-tall stack is the largest free-standing brick structure in the world. At the time of its closing, the city considered demolishing it.
“It was actually the residents of Deer Lodge County that went to the courthouse to ask, like, ‘hey, this is really important, it’s a huge piece of our history, it’s such a testament to who we are. Can we keep it up?’ And the city eventually relented and said, 'Okay, we can keep it up.’ And, now, it’s there in all its glory,” said Celina Van Hyning of Discover Anaconda.
Since 1919, the stack spewed exhaust from the smelting of ore mined in Butte.
“I’ve heard from people who lived here when it was operational said there was just hash covering cars, houses, like, all the time when the smelter was operational,” said Hyning.
The closing of the smelter was followed with the closing of the open pit mining at the Berkeley Pit in Butte.
“It’s basically ended mining in Montana as we had known it for 100 years. It kind of ended unions at that point, too, because in order to reopen the mines, it had to reopen as non-union mines,” said Daily.
The stack is now a curiosity that attracts tourists to the Smelter City. Each year, Anaconda hosts Smelterman’s Day, where people can get an up-close look at the stack.
“It’s kind of all that we are, it’s what we’re known for, it’s what built the town into what it is today. I don’t think we’d be standing where we are today if it wasn’t for the smelter,” said Hyning.
