Stay
Hotel Finlen
The chain hotels sit out by the interstate. The Finlen has been checking people in on Broadway since 1924, and the Cavalier Lounge is still downstairs.
Silver Bow County
Silver Bow County, Montana. We've got 1 town from here so far: Butte. There are 4 places, 3 Back Then stories and 3 memories on the site.
Towns
Still Old School in Silver Bow County
Eat
Matt's Place
Among the first drive-ins in Montana, if not the first, and still in the same building on Placer Street. The counter went quiet for a few years. It's back.
Drink
M&M Bar and Cafe
Butte's all-hours bar and cafe since 1890, through Prohibition and a 2021 fire. It moved next door on Main Street and brought the neon along.
See
Silver Bow Drive-In
Five miles an hour on the lot, sound on the FM dial, a concession stand that came from an older drive-in near Deer Lodge, and two screens since 1980.
Back Then in Silver Bow County
Back Then · Remember This?
Remember This? Columbia Gardens in Butte
Butte's amusement park never charged admission. It opened in 1899, closed on Labor Day 1973, and burned that November. People are still talking about the swings.
Back Then · Then & Now
Then & Now: Butte's Bars and Counters That Came Back
The M&M burned and reopened next door. Matt's Place went dark and came back on Placer. Pekin closed in 2026 and stayed closed. That's Butte, then and now.
Back Then · Remember This?
Remember This? Pekin Noodle Parlor in Butte
Since 1911, the best seats in Uptown Butte were up a flight of stairs. Pekin Noodle Parlor, often called the country's oldest family-owned Chinese restaurant, served its last noodles in April 2026.
Memories from Silver Bow County
You're Old School Montana if... you got the tandem swings at Columbia Gardens going so high your mother couldn't watch
You're Old School Montana if... spring didn't count until the drive-in west of town opened for the season
You're Old School Montana if... you can still smell the popcorn from the one-screen theater downtown