Nancy Bennett stood amazed Friday morning as she glanced around at the corner of Park and Main in the heart of Uptown Butte.
“This is like a ghost sign heaven,” Bennett said as she pointed to the old, faded advertisements painted on sides of buildings. “You can stand in one place and see them everywhere.”
Bennett, the leader of a national group of artists and muralists called Walldogs, was in Butte Friday observing old building advertisements, also known as “ghost signs.” She was there at the request of the county historic preservation office as part of a proposed plan to restore these old signs.
Bennett, and fellow Walldogs member, Jim Oskam, both agreed that the Mining City is relative gold mine for ghost signs.
“It’s huge. You have more (ghost signs) than I’ve ever seen anywhere,” Oskam said.
People are also reading…
Bennett and Oskam, both of Iowa, say most cities they’ve seen around the country only have two to three visible ghost signs. Butte has closer to 100 signs, by Oskam’s estimation.
Jim Jarvis, the county’s historic preservation officer, gave the pair a tour of Uptown so they could photograph and note the condition of the signs. Bennett stood in the middle of Main Street to take a photo before quickly dodging oncoming traffic.
“This is dangerous work,” she laughed.
Most of Butte’s ghost signs were painted between the 1900s and 1950s. Some advertise local businesses and national products that have long sense gone defunct.
Jarvis says the preservation office is considering a plan to restore these faded and flaking signs, if money can be secured. The concept is to get the Walldogs to bring in artists to touch up signs while maintaining their historic quality.
“I could see this be a major tourism draw,” Jarvis said of the signs.
— Reporter John Grant Emeigh may be reached via email at john.emeigh@lee.net or phone at 496-5511. Follow him at Twitter.com/@johnemeigh.
Meeting today
A public meeting starts at noon Saturday at the Butte Archives, 17 W. Quartz St., to discuss Butte’s ghost signs.
Walldogs representatives Nancy Bennett and Jim Oskam will discuss their observations and discuss how best to preserve the historic assets.
