The United States is full of wonderful place names, and Anaconda, Montana is definitely one of the coolest names out there. Anaconda was founded by Copper King Marcus Daly as the location for a copper smelter to process the copper coming from the mines at nearby Butte. A smelter needs water and Butte just didn’t have a dependable enough water source to make one feasible. Daly originally called his town “Copperopolis”, but that name was already taken by another town in Montana so it was changed to Anaconda after the mountain range it is nestled in. When Montana became a state in 1889, Anaconda was in a fierce competition with Helena to become the new state capital, losing by only 2,000 votes.
Anaconda is a charming little city of just under 10,000 people. The locals are friendly and welcoming and the town itself has some really beautiful features. There are some beautiful historic homes west of downtown and some delightful bars and restaurants (don’t miss Gallicano's Pizzeria while you’re there). The Deer Lodge County Courthouse is awesome, and the Washoe Theatre is also not to be missed. I was truly surprised by how great of a town Anaconda is and I’ll definitely be back in the future. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful Anaconda, a true diamond in the rough.