Located in downtown Butte, Montana, St. James hospital had been closed since 1962, and abandoned for decades. When we arrived in town on our recent road trip, we thought we’d have a go at shooting the building. When we rolled up we quickly saw that, though it was rough condition, the place was well sealed up, and even had a couple cameras mounted on the exterior. It was clearly being taken care of by somebody. Dissapointed, we loitered a bit, taking a couple exterior shots, until we came up to the front entrance. There, taped to the inside glass of the door, a handrwitten sign greeted us, offering tours with a phone number to call. Somewhat incredulously, we dialed the number, and in literally 5 minutes and a venmo transacton later, a young man had pulled up in an old pickup truck and we were ushered inside.
For many urban explorers, the often transgressive nature of this pursuit seems to be the primary selling point. And, though there is something decidedly exhilarating in breaking into an old building unnoticed and stealthily photographing it, I don’t relish the risk of being arrested and imprisoned for my efforts. To those that would say that paying for a tour of a place like St. James is a cop out, I’d argue that it’s hard to beat a scenario where you get practically free run of the place, with a friendly and knowledgeable host to show you around. As it turned out, our guide’s name was Cameron. He was about thirty years old and had bought the property outright a couple years previously. He’d since managed to get the hospital in a state of arrested decay, and was slowly working on rehabbing and restoring it. He even had one tenant living on site already: a young man and his dog. Cameron’s passion for old architecture in general and St. James in particular was apparent, and the four of us formed a sort a sort of symbiotic relationship: he enjoyed telling us stories of the building and the work he’d been putting into it, and in turn he found in us a rapt audience. Thus the promised two hour tour slowly turned into three and a half, with an invitation to come back again while we were in town and visit again, this time as friends. We took him up on his offer the next night and came back with pizza and beer which we enjoyed outside on one one of the hospital’s outdoor mezzanines.
If this story sounds a bit familiar, it’s because I touched on it a couple posts ago, because Cameron was also kind enough to put us in touch with the owners of another local hospital in similar circumstances, an introduction which led to a great shoot of that facility, as well. Besides St. James, Cameron owns a couple other smaller properties around Butte, one of which is an old cabin he’s restored and that we rented from him for one night. Meeting him was truly a stroke of luck, as it opened up a couple places to us that we would not have had the chance to shoot otherwise. Moreover, Cameron is a fascinating individual with a passion for architecture and history, and it was a pleasure to get to know him. He has taken on a monumental task for himself in the care and restoration of his hospital, and if you are to find yourself in Butte anytime soon, I encourage you to support him by taking a tour or crashing at one of his cabins. My thanks go out to him for making this post possible.
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Thanks for stopping by. More from the Great Western Road Trip to come!
