“Streets of Butte” presentation Wednesday at the Butte Silver Bow Archives

Even to seasoned commuters, Butte's streets can be a bit of a mystery.  Heading towards the Country Club area from Park Street can be done on one continuous road, but that one road is actually many different streets.  Park.  Farrell.  Shields. Continental.  Why is it like this?  Why are some of Butte's streets laid out like they are.  And what's with the names of some of Butte's streets, avenues and boulevards?  Can anyone explain the rhyme and reason?  Did the growth of the Berkeley Pit have anything to do with it?  And what about the addition of the interstates back in the 1950s?

Jim McCarthy and Lindsay Mulcahy will attempt to make sense out of Butte's streets, their names, origins and more as they present "Streets of Butte" this Wednesday at the Butte Archives at 17 W. Quartz in Uptown Butte as part of their "Brown Bag Lunch" series of speakers and presentations.  Lindsey is the Assistant Director of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives while Jim is a retired Road Foreman with the Butte-Silver Bow Public Works Department and a frequent volunteer at the Archives.  Both have history degrees and have previously teamed up to teach an Adult Education course on Butte History, so they know their stuff.  This Wednesday at noon they will explain the history of Butte's streets and roads, touching on such subjects as why they are named the way they are and even why a particular series of streets is in alphabetical order.

The presentation is expected to last about an hour.  Don't forget to bring a lunch.