Dumas Brothel
Butte, Montana, United States
Other · local-legend
The Story
Butte’s Dumas preserves the rooms of a purpose-built nineteenth-century brothel and a haunting tradition associated with former steward Rudy Giecek. Stories concern figures at windows and furniture found moved. Its owners publish a route for requesting private investigations; routine opening dates need confirmation.
The Hauntings
The Dumas speaks through its arrangement of rooms as much as through its surviving furnishings. Windows and doors once displayed the women whose labor sustained this part of Butte’s mining economy. The building’s later life as a museum brought preservation work, changing ownership and a new layer of stories. Among those stories is Elinore Knott’s lingering presence, described by a steward who spent years attending to the house. In Toby Thompson’s account for Big Sky Journal, former owner and museum operator Rudy Giecek describes figures appearing in windows, furniture moving and unusual telephone calls. Giecek associated part of the activity with Elinore Knott, a former madam whose story also entered his novel Venus Alley. His account blends experiences he attributed to the house with an imaginative literary project; the novel should not be mistaken for a recovered witness statement. The present operator continues to describe unexplained activity and invites inquiries about private investigations. The house’s haunting reputation has become part of its visitor life, carried forward through the recollections of people who spent time caring for it.
The History
Arthur and Joseph Nadeau built the Dumas in 1890. Montana’s National Register Sign Program identifies its door-and-window room arrangement as architecture shaped by the sex trade. Around it stood saloons, gambling establishments and other parts of Butte’s red-light district, which served a city built on mining. The Dumas continued operating until 1982, long after the surrounding district had diminished. Its subsequent museum use preserved evidence of an occupation often excluded from more comfortable accounts of western towns. Different custodians have worked to retain the building and share its history; visitor access has varied with restoration needs and seasons.
A sense of place.
Visitor Experiences
Have you experienced something here?
This future chapter will bring together stories from the PHASM community. An unexpected encounter, a lingering feeling, or a quiet visit—your experience will be welcome.
Submissions are not open yet.
Sources & further reading.
- Montana National Register Sign Program / Historic Montana — Dumas Hotel — Butte National Historic Landmark District (history)
- Dumas Brothel — official visitor information (history)
- Big Sky Journal — Ghost Alleys of Butte (reports)
- Dumas Brothel — official visitor information (reports)
- Dumas Brothel — official visitor information (visiting)
Plan Your Visit
Privately owned. The official website invites visitors to contact the operator to arrange a private investigation. Approval and a confirmed date are required; an inquiry is not a reservation. The site also contains variable tour information and an undated seasonal closure notice, so do not rely on an assumed Saturday opening. Use the published visitor contact on the official site rather than approaching the building unannounced.