From Copper Smelter to Golf Course: How Anaconda’s Reinvention Shapes Its Rental Market
The Anaconda Smelter Stack still stands on the hill above town — 585 feet tall, the tallest surviving masonry structure in the world, visible for miles across the Deer Lodge Valley. It is a monument to what Anaconda was: the company town that Marcus Daly built in 1883 to process the copper ore from his mines in Butte, a town where the smelter was everything — the employer, the economy, the reason the town existed. For nearly a century, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company (later the Anaconda Company, then ARCO) operated the largest non-ferrous smelting operation in the world at this site, and the town rose and fell with the price of copper and the fortunes of the company.
When ARCO closed the smelter in 1980, Anaconda lost its economic identity in a single act. The closure eliminated thousands of jobs and triggered a population decline that took the county from its 1980 peak down to roughly 9,300 by 2010. The environmental legacy was staggering — the smelter site and the surrounding landscape were contaminated with arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals from a century of smelting operations. The EPA designated the area a Superfund site, and the cleanup that followed became one of the most ambitious environmental remediation projects in American history.
The Old Works: Superfund to Championship Golf
The most visible symbol of Anaconda’s reinvention is the Old Works Golf Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus on the remediated site of the original Anaconda smelter works. The course opened in 1997 and incorporates the industrial heritage of the site in ways that are both ingenious and moving: the sand traps are filled with black copper slag from the smelting process, and remnants of the old smelter infrastructure are visible throughout the course. It is one of the most distinctive golf courses in the American West, and it has become the centerpiece of Anaconda’s tourism identity.
The broader recreation economy includes Discovery Ski Area in the Anaconda Range (offering skiing with a small-mountain, local character that contrasts sharply with the destination resorts of Big Sky or Whitefish), Georgetown Lake (one of Montana’s most popular ice-fishing destinations and a summer boating and camping spot), and the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness (a vast backcountry area that draws hikers, hunters, and wilderness enthusiasts). Together, these recreation assets bring approximately 13,000 tourists to the Anaconda area annually and support a modest seasonal hospitality and recreation employment base.
The Butte Connection: Commuters and the I-90 Corridor
Anaconda’s position 25 miles west of Butte on Interstate 90 gives it a commuter dynamic that is important for landlords to understand. Butte is the larger city, home to Montana Tech (a university with strong engineering and mining programs), St. James Healthcare, and the Butte-Silver Bow consolidated government — all significant employers whose workers may choose to live in Anaconda for its lower housing costs, smaller-town atmosphere, or proximity to Georgetown Lake and the Pintler Range. The I-90 commute between Anaconda and Butte takes roughly 25–30 minutes, making it a practical daily commute that brings Butte-level professional incomes to the Anaconda rental market.
These Butte commuter tenants are among the most desirable applicants for Anaconda landlords: they bring stable employment income from Butte’s institutional employers while paying Anaconda’s more affordable rents. A Montana Tech professor, a St. James Healthcare nurse, or a Butte-Silver Bow county employee living in Anaconda represents the same favorable commuter dynamic seen in the Helena-Broadwater County relationship.
The Housing Stock Challenge
The most significant practical challenge for Anaconda landlords is the age and condition of the housing stock. Much of Anaconda’s residential construction dates to the smelter era — late 19th and early 20th century homes built for smelter workers, many of which were designed as modest, functional dwellings rather than premium housing. These older properties have character and historical appeal, but they also present maintenance challenges: aging plumbing, electrical systems that may not meet modern standards, heating systems designed for an era of cheap energy, and potential environmental issues including lead paint and asbestos.
Landlords acquiring rental property in Anaconda should budget for the renovation and maintenance costs associated with older housing and conduct environmental assessments as appropriate. Lead paint disclosure is federally required for all pre-1978 properties. The Superfund cleanup addressed contaminated soil in public areas and residential yards, but landlords should verify the environmental status of any specific property through the county and the EPA before purchasing.
The Working-Class Tenant Pool
Anaconda’s tenant pool reflects its working-class heritage. The community that built the smelter was a community of immigrant laborers — Irish, Italian, Croatian, Finnish, and Scandinavian families who worked with their hands and valued the dignity of physical work. That cultural DNA persists in modern Anaconda: the construction workers, healthcare aides, retail employees, and service workers who form the bulk of the rental tenant pool are, by and large, working people with modest but steady incomes. The median household income is approximately $50,000 — lower than the Montana average but sufficient for Anaconda’s affordable rents.
Screening in this tenant pool requires attention to employment stability and income documentation. Construction workers may have seasonal gaps in employment. Healthcare aides may work for agencies that provide varying hours. Retail and service workers may hold multiple part-time positions rather than a single full-time job. Landlords should verify total income from all sources, confirm employment status and expected hours, and apply income-to-rent thresholds that account for the variability inherent in working-class employment.
Deer Lodge County (Anaconda-Deer Lodge County consolidated city-county) landlord-tenant matters are governed by the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977, MCA Title 70, Chapter 24, and the Montana Tenants’ Security Deposits Act, MCA Title 70, Chapter 25. Nonpayment notice: 3-day pay or vacate. Minor lease violation: 14-day cure or quit. Major lease violation: 3-day cure or quit. No-cause termination (month-to-month): 30-day written notice. Security deposit: no cap; 10-day return if no deductions, 30-day itemized return if deductions; must be held in separate bank account; bank name and address provided to tenant; 24-hour written cleaning notice required before deducting cleaning charges (MCA § 70-25-201(3)). Landlord entry: 24 hours’ advance written notice (MCA § 70-24-312). No rent control. No local ordinances beyond state law. FED action filed at Deer Lodge County Justice Court. Federal lead paint disclosure required for pre-1978 properties. Environmental due diligence recommended for properties in former smelter-affected areas. Consult a licensed Montana attorney before taking legal action. Last updated: April 2026.
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