If you take a walk or drive around Uptown Butte, either through the neighborhoods or business district, you will notice so much great architecture and history.

One of the reasons we still have so much of that to feast our eyes is thanks to the work of Mary McCormick.

Mary moved here from Nebraska in 1985, and immediately fell in love with Butte, its history and architecture. In 2015, Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Matt Vincent appointed Mary as the county’s historic preservation officers, and she worked in that capacity until her retirement in 2021.

The historic preservation officer oversees the coordinating of programs to identify, evaluate, promote and protect historic resources here and ensure compliance with local, state and federal historic preservation laws and ordinances.

Mary worked to help preserve history long before that appointment, and she continues to do it today.

One of the projects she is most proud of is the Jacobs House across the street from the courthouse. The house was built in 1878, and it was one of the first brick houses in the city. It was home to Henry Jacobs, Butte’s first mayor.

For years it looked like an old, run-down, abandoned house. That is because it was. Today, thanks to work led by Mary, it is a monument to part of Butte’s great history.

Her work has included many great wins and many heartbreaking losses due to demolition and fires. But her worked to preserve history and educate about the importance of that history has helped make it so today history preservation is seen as an important first step in any project in Butte.

Listen in to this fun conversation as Mary talks about moving to Butte how quickly it grew on her. Listen as she talks about her love of history preservation and the many projects she has worked on.

Listen to hear about some of those wins and losses and how she is still very much involved in history preservation.

Today’s episode of the ButteCast is presented by the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Jewelry Design Center⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life.

Intro music by Tim Montana. For more from the Elk Park native, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠timmontana.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For more from Bill Foley, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ButteCast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This episode is available on YouTube.