In 1888,
a large lead smelter was built on the banks of Prickly Pear
Creek in the Helena Valley by the Helena and Livingston Lead
Smelting Company. In 1898, the American Smelting and Refining
Company (ASARCO) purchased the 160 acre site. ASARCO operated
the smelter until 2001.
East Helena
grew up around that enterprise. For over a century, the smelter
processed 70,000 tons of lead bullion a year, and provided a
livelihood for thousands of families. It also produced untold
tons of toxic contaminants.
In 1984,
the Environmental Protection Agency named East Helena as a Superfund
cleanup site. ASARCO smelting operations were suspended in 2001.
In November
of 2007, the Independent Record presented the ASARCO
story. Click
here to access the archived feature.
On August
14, 2009, the ASARCO stacks were felled by dynamite charges,
an emotional step in cleaning up the smelter site.
Looking
West on Main Street, ca. 1900
COLLECTION
OF KENNON BAIRD
Mount
Helena is in the distance, and the streetcar from Helena is
on the tracks. Many of the buildings on the left were destroyed
by the fire of 1919 (scroll down for the fire story).
Old
Views of the ASARCO Smelter
American
Smelting & Refining Co. lead and zinc smelter in East Helena,
ca 1900. The soil and groundwater in the area are contaminated
with a variety of toxic substances.
ASARCO
Smelter at Night, 1920s
COURTESY
OF TOM KILMER • CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A BIG
VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW
Smelter
Stack Maintenance, 1946
COLLECTION
OF WES AND CAROL SYNNESS
Small souvenir
lead ingot from the East Helena ASARCO Smelter, date unknown.
Small souvenir
lead ingot from the East Helena ASARCO Smelter, 1960s.
A satellite view
of the East Helena smelter. The plan is to bury all this under 30
feet of earth by 2012.
Ca. 1900 advertising
pocket mirror from the
Anderson & Steckler General Mercantile , East Helena.
East
Helena Fire, August 19 1919
Perhaps started
by a carelessly discarded cigarette, the blaze of Aug. 19, 1919
ravaged East Helena's small business district...
Barber
Oscar
Jarvi, Kelly's Barber Shop, Main St., East Helena, 1950s
COLLECTION
OF KENNON BAIRD
Two
Views of the East Helena Public School, Early 1900s
Remodeled
and Expanded East Helena Public School, 1940s
Infamous
Speed Trap
When Highway
287 was the main street of East Helena, the city was notorious
as a speed trap. This badge was a familiar sight to many hard-traveling
motorists who failed to brake quickly enough from 75 to 25 mph.
Townsend,
Montana
Located about
30 miles southeast of Helena, Townsend was created by the Great
Northern Railroad In 1882. Townsend was named by railroad officials,
in honor of the wife of Charles Barstow Wright (1822-1898), President
of the Northern Pacific from 1875 to 1879.
Cedar
Street, About 1900
Probably the 200 block of South Cedar
Potato
Race, Main St., Townsend Montana, July 4 1914
Main
Street, Townsend, Montana 1916
Main
Street of Townsend, 1940s
Townsend,
early 1960s
The
River Inn, a roadhouse just north of Townsend
Opened in 1941 -- Moved to Lakeside, 1965
Now
the Lakeside Bar
The River
Inn was built in 1941 by Lester Goodwin (1897-1986). He later
built six motel cottages adjacent to the Inn. Situated near the
bank of the Missouri River, the building suffered repeated damage
from ice-jams after the construction of the current Canyon Ferry
Dam. In 1965, the property was apparently purchased by the Bureau
of Reclamation, and the buildings were sold to be moved, The Inn
was purchased by one Gary Smith for $1,111, and is now at Lakeside.
1940
Toston Dam
COURTESY
OF TOM KILMER
East of Townsend
is the Toston Dam on the Missouri River. It was completed in 1940.
