Anaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, United States. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the "Pintlers"), the Continental Divide passes within south of the community. As of the 2020 census the population of the consolidated city-county was 9,421, and the US Census Bureaus's 2015-2019 American Community Survey showed a median household income of $41,820. Anaconda had earlier peaks of population in 1930 and 1980, based on the mining industry. As a consolidated city-county area, it ranks as the ninth most populous city in Montana, but as only a city is far smaller. Central Anaconda is above sea level, and is surrounded by the communities of Opportunity and West Valley. The county area is , characterized by densely timbered forestlands, lakes, mountains and recreation grounds. The county has common borders with Beaverhead, Butte-Silver Bow, Granite, Jefferson and Powell counties.

History

Anaconda was founded by

Marcus Daly Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900) was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three " Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, United States. Early life Daly emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, to the United States ...

, one of the

Copper Kings The Copper Kings were the three industrialists Marcus Daly, William A. Clark, and F. Augustus Heinze. They were known for the epic battles fought in Butte, Montana, and the surrounding region, during the Gilded Age, over control of the local copper ...

, who financed the construction of the Anaconda smelter on nearby Warm Springs Creek to process copper ore from the

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...

mines. In June 1883, Daly filed for a town plat for "Copperopolis", but that name was already used by another mining town in Meagher County. Instead, Daly accepted the name "Anaconda", suggested by the United States postmaster of the time, Clinton Moore. Moore chose the name because of the important mining smelter already existing in the area. When Montana was admitted as a state in 1889, Daly lobbied to have the capital moved here, but it stayed in Helena, a location supported by rival William Andrews Clark, following a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

. In 1903, the Socialist Party of America won its first victory west of the Mississippi when Anaconda voters elected a socialist mayor, treasurer, police judge, and three councilmen. The Socialist Party had grown within the expanding Montana labor movement. Initially, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company tolerated socialist activities, but when the Socialists gained political power and threatened to implement reform, the company systematically undermined the party. City workers and councilmen refused to cooperate with the new mayor, and the company began to fire Socialists. In the long run labor lost ground in Anaconda and the company exerted ever greater political control. The

Anaconda Company The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest mi ...

expanded smelting capacity over time; by 1919 the Washoe Reduction Works could boast that its 585-foot (178 m) smokestack (

Anaconda Smelter Stack The Anaconda Smelter Stack is the tallest surviving masonry structure in the world, with an overall height of about , including a brick chimney tall and the downhill side of a concrete foundation tall. Provides precise dimensions via two drawi ...

) was the tallest masonry structure in the world and that the smelter-refining complex constituted the world's largest non-ferrous processing plant. In 1980, Atlantic Richfield Company closed the smelter, bringing an end to almost a century of mineral processing. While some aspects of the operation had been cleaned up under environmental laws, closing the smelter resulted in a large area contaminated with hazardous wastes. Since then, an operation for environmental cleanup was put into place by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and executed with the assistance of ARCO. The multimillion-dollar cleanup and redevelopment has resulted in the "Old Works" Golf Course, a championship 18-hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus. Anaconda joined with Deer County to form a consolidated city-county government in 1977. Part of Anaconda is included in the Butte-Anaconda Historic District.

Geography

* Elevation: * Average annual rainfall: * Average length of growing season: 114 days * Average annual snowfall: * Average annual temperature:

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Anaconda has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

Demographics

Arts and culture

On main street is the Washoe Theater, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. It was the last theater constructed in the United States in the Nuevo Deco style. The theater was designed in 1930 by B. Marcus Priteca, an architect from Seattle and opened in 1936. It was listed by the NRHP for architectural significance in 1982. It currently is used for showing films, plus periodically hosting plays and other types of entertainment.

Government and politics

Deer Lodge County voters have a record as the most consistently Democratic county in Montana for Presidential elections. These voters have not supported a Republican candidate since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In the last five elections before 2016, the Democratic candidate has won by 21% to nearly 49% of Deer Lodge County's vote. In gubernatorial elections, the only Republican to carry the county in the last twenty years was Marc Racicot in the 1996 election. In that election the original Democratic nominee, Chet Blaylock, died and Marc Racicot carried every county. The city is in the 39th district of the Montana Senate and is represented by Democrat Gene Vuckovich in the 2019 legislative session. Elected in 2017, Bill Everett is the current CEO. The CEO is elected by a plurality vote on a non-partisan ballot for a four-year term.

Sports and recreation

Hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

– There are hundreds of square miles of hunting available to the public in the area. With permit, hunting is permitted for fowl, bear,

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

, elk,

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

and

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

. Only

and elk hunting is allowed without prior application to the state hunting license draw. *

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

– Many nearby mountain lakes and streams offer such primary fishing spots as Silver Lake, Georgetown Lake, Echo Lake, Storm Lake, Racetrack Lake, Warm Springs Creek, Warm Springs Ponds, and the Big Hole River. *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

– The Old Works Golf Course is a Jack Nicklaus-signature

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

, developed of

brownfield land In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

. A local country club and an 18-hole championship golf course are located at Fairmont Hot Springs. *

Ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

ing – The area has many trails for cross-country skiers, and the nearby Discovery Ski Area has downhill skiing with 15 downhill double-black diamond trails and of groomed cross-country ski trails. *

Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

-The annual Winter Getaway dart tournament, held in several local establishments, is the largest regional dart tournament in Montana. *

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

s – The Copper Village Museum and Arts Center provides visitors and residents with art and history of the local area. *

Hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

– Hiking opportunities in and around Anaconda include trails up to mountain lakes and a mountain that can be climbed without technical equipment. A walking trail is on the north side of Anaconda next to Warm Springs Creek. * Drag Racing – Lost Creek Raceway was founded in 1986 and hosts over 20 events a year bringing racers from Washington, Idaho and Montana. * Mountain Biking

Education

Four schools are part of Anaconda School District 10, including a

Head Start program Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. The program's s ...

; Lincoln Elementary (grades k-3), Fred Moodry Intermediate School (grades 4–6), and Anaconda Junior-Senior High School (grades 7–12). Anaconda High School is known as the Copperheads. The Hearst Free Library serves the area.

Infrastructure

Bowman Field is a public airport located three miles (5 km) northeast of Anaconda.

Media

The Anaconda Leader is the local newspaper. It is published twice weekly.

Film credits

Anaconda has been a filming location for a few movies, documentaries and a TV show, including: * 1960 - ''Perch of The Devil, '' Harvey Richards Media Archive (Estuary Press) * 1974 - ''The Legendary Mountain. '' Montana State University Film and T.V. Center * 1978 - ''The Other Side of Hell,'' Aubrey-Lyon Productions * 1981 - ''Today,'' NBC News Production * 1985 - ''

Runaway Train A runaway train is a type of railroad incident in which unattended rolling stock is accidentally allowed to roll onto the main line, a moving train loses enough braking power to be unable to stop in safety, or a train operates at unsafe speeds d ...

, '' Golan-Globus Productions * 1986 - ''Better Pictures, '' Left Handed Pictures * 1987 - ''Portrait Of America, '' Turner Broadcasting System * 1992 - ''Return to Better Pictures, '' Sloppy Films * 1993 - '' Return to Lonesome Dove,'' Artisan Home Entertainment * 2005 - ''Backroads of Montana, '' Montana PBS * 2008 - ''

Prodigal Sons ''Prodigal Sons'' is a studio album by the Irish folk group The Dubliners. Produced by Bill Whelan, who later became famous for ''Riverdance'', this album featured cellist Nigel Warren-Green as guest musician. Although Luke Kelly recorded his ...

, '' Big Sky Productions * 2012 - ''

Diggers The Diggers were a group of religious and political dissidents in England, associated with agrarian socialism. Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard, amongst many others, were known as True Levellers in 1649, in reference to their split from ...

, ''Half Yard Productions * 2016 - ''

Dead 7 ''Dead 7'' (formerly titled ''Dead West'') is a 2016 post-apocalyptic zombie horror western made-for-TV film written by Nick Carter, American singer best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys (who also acted in the film). It is directed by D ...

, '' Syfy * 2016 - ''Lester Leaps In, '' Montana Mafia Productions * 2018 - ''Jeremy Bass: We Will Be You, '' Annie McCain Casting * 2018 - ''Far Cry 5: Inside Eden's Gate, '' Asylum Entertainment * 2019 - ''Worth The Wait, '' Maney Telefilm Co. * 2019 - '' Mickey and the Bear, '' Utopia * 2020 - ''Trail of Justice, '' Eagle Ridge Studios * 2020 - ''Two Eyes, ''Two Eyes Productions * 2020 - ''Backroads of Montana, '' Montana PBS * 2022 - ''The Ghost Town Terror, '' Travel Channel * 2022 - ''

Stu Stu is a masculine given name or nickname, usually a shortened form (hypocorism) of Stuart or Stewart. It may refer to: Stuart * Stu Barnes (born 1970), Canadian retired National Hockey League player * Stu Block (born 1977), Canadian singer-so ...

, '' Sony Pictures Releasing * 2022 - ''

1923 (TV series) ''1923'' is an American Western drama television series that premiered on December 18, 2022, on Paramount+. The series is a prequel to the Paramount Network series ''Yellowstone'' and serves as a sequel to the series ''1883'', with Isabel May re ...

, '' 101 Studios, Bosque Ranch Productions & MTV Entertainment Studios * TBA - ''Brown, '' Dark Frames * TBA - ''Broke, '' Broken Films

Notable people

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...

– actress; lived in Anaconda briefly as a child; she was born in Jamestown, New York. * John H. Collins – classical scholar * Frank Cope – New York Giants offensive lineman *

Joseph Paul Cretzer Joseph Paul "Dutch" Cretzer (April 17, 1911 − May 4, 1946) was an American bank robber and prisoner at Alcatraz who participated in and was slain in the bloody "Battle of Alcatraz" which took place following a failed escape attempt between May ...

- Bank Robber & Alcatraz Inmate *

– founder of Anaconda, and one of the "

" of Butte * Lester Dragstedt – first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins *

Wayne Estes Wayne Vernon Estes (May 13, 1943 – February 8, 1965) was an American basketball player. He was a 6'6" (1.98 m) All-American forward for the Utah State Aggies from 1962 to 1965. Wayne is the fourth-leading scorer in Utah State history, wit ...

– college basketball star *

Bert Glennon Bert Lawrence Glennon (November 19, 1893 – June 29, 1967) was an American cinematographer and film director. He directed ''Syncopation'' (1929), the first film released by RKO Radio Pictures. Biography Glennon was born in Anaconda, Mont ...

– cinematographer and director *

Raymond Hunthausen Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen (August 21, 1921 – July 22, 2018) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1962 to 1975 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in Washingt ...

– Roman Catholic Archbishop of Seattle * Rob Johnson – former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

* Ed Kalafat – NBA

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, th ...

basketball player *

Nancy Keenan Nancy Keenan (born February 14, 1952) is an American politician, and since 2015 the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. Prior to that, she was elected to several terms in the Montana House of Representatives (1983–1989) and a ...

– politician,

NARAL NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

president * Hal C. Kern – film editor * Angela McLean – Lieutenant Governor of Montana * Jesse Laslovich - Montana Attorney & US District Attorney for District of Montana *

Milan Lazetich Milan "Sheriff" Lazetich (August 27, 1921 – July 9, 1969) was an American football player in the 1940s. He played college football for the University of Montana and University of Michigan. He was a first-team All-Big Ten tackle and second-te ...

– football player for Los Angeles Rams * George A. Lingo – politician in the

Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...

Jack Morris John Scott Morris (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1977 and 1994, mainly for the Detroit Tigers. Morris won 254 games throughout his career. Armed ...

, S.J. – born in Anaconda, founded and named the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. * Casper Oimoen – Olympic ski jumper * Bill Ray – Alaska businessman, politician, writer *

Roger Rouse Roger Rouse (June 3, 1934 – March 7, 1999) was an American boxer. He competed in the men's middleweight event at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was one of the top collegiate boxers while attending Idaho State University, and later as a pr ...

- Professional Boxer *

Michael Sells Michael Anthony Sells (born May 8, 1949) is John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the University of Chicago Divinity School, Divinity School and in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. M ...

– Islamic studies expert * Bridget Sullivan -

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...

's maid. Lived in Anaconda for the rest of her life until her death. * George Leo Thomas – Roman Catholic Bishop of Helena * Ralph "Papa" Thorson – bounty hunter, subject of '' The Hunter'' starring Steve McQueen *

Lester Thurow Lester Carl Thurow (May 7, 1938 – March 25, 2016) was an American political economist, former dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management, and author of books on economic topics. Education Born in Livingston, Montana, Thurow received his B.A. i ...

– economist * John H. Tolan – U.S. Congressman from California * Gene Vuckovich - Montana Senate of 39th District * Thomas J. Ward – Medal of Honor recipient in the Civil War

References

External links

Official website

Chamber of Commerce

Clark Fork Watershed Education Program

Video portrait of Anaconda
* {{Authority control Company towns in Montana Cities in Deer Lodge County, Montana County seats in Montana Populated places established in 1883 1883 establishments in Montana Territory Cities in Montana Anaconda Copper