We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
This is a current photo of the rock houses near Klein, Montana. The rock houses can be seen from US 87 about four miles south of Roundup on the west side of the highway. They can be accessed by taking Farrell Street west, a gravel road that goes north from US 87. The houses are on private property and posted "no trespassing." The first rock house was built by Dominic Finco, an Italians immigrant coal miner, in 1909.
This photo was donated to the Mussellshell County Museum by Inez Finco Foley, daughter of Dominic Finco. Dominic and his brother, Catherino, are credited with building the first rock houses in Farrell Town, now a defunct coal mining camp near Klein, Montana. Inez wrote in 1990 about growing up in the rock houses and how eventually residents got electricity, water and plumbing. The houses were heated by coal stoves, coal being readily available in a mining camp.
On trips to Billings I was curious about the blue space-age looking domed structure on the south side of US 87 heading south out of Roundup. About four miles further south on US 87, I stopped a couple of times to explore the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America) cemeteries on both sides of the highway through Klein. I was familiar with the United Mine Workers who organized many miners in many states. I learned that in the early 1900s Klein boomed because of coal mining. Those mines are long closed but the last operating underground coal mine in Montana is still shipping coal from the nearby Bull Mountains.
Just before coming in to Klein on one of my last trips from Billings I was gazing to my left and thought I saw some rock houses on the cliff about a quarter mile or so off the highway. I turned around and drove back to verify that I really did see rock houses. These homemade dwellings were common in Appalachia where I worked with an underground mining company. There limestone cliffs were modified in to living space by folks "back in the hills."
Once off the highway I saw up close at least three separate rock houses. I was hooked. I had to learn and share the history of these unusual dwellings, a type I had not seen in nearly 30 years.
A coal miner's daughter recalls life in a rock house in Farrall Town
Volunteers at the Mussellshell County Museum shared a copy of a letter written by Inez Finco Coley, age 80 years, in 1990. The letter answered questions about the rock houses in Farrall Town. Inez wrote "...it was my dad (Dominic) and his "bro." Catherino..." who built the first rock houses. The two miners were among hundreds of immigrants who fled Europe during the runup to World War I. The Republic Coal Company, which provided coal to the Milwaukee Railroad, recruited many of these immigrants to work as miners. Miners came and some brought families. The company provided company housing (rent deducted from pay) but a few miners used their skills to make their own housing in the surrounding sandstone cliffs.
Dominic Finco immigrated from Italy and was a coal miner and also had experience as a stone mason. His daughter wrote that she was born in a company house but the family moved to a rock house when she was one year old. One photo Inez shared showed her sitting in the living room of the rock house holding Raymond (see attached photo). Raymond likely was a younger brother or other relative.
In the photo there is an electric table lamp as well as a floor lamp behind the rocker. The local museum has a photo showing a Montana Power salesman in front of the rock houses in 1934 delivering a floor lamp and a table lamp, perhaps the same two in the photo of Inez and Raymond.
In 1973 a reporter in a Billings newspaper story wrote, "...the cliff dwellings are in the middle of a public right -of-way, the end of Farrell Town's 8th Avenue." This suggests the rock houses were on public land and the dwellers never paid for the land. If that were the case, something changed later because I did find the land recently sold. Inez Foley wrote in her abovementioned letter that someone tried to buy the rock house but her dad wouldn't sell.
Inez shared some details of the rock house in her 1990 letter. The Fincos had five more children after moving to the rock house. She described the bedroom with floor space "a little bigger than the kitchen, it was cleverly built, had a clothes closet." Inez's mother died two years after her youngest child was born. Dominic (Inez's father) sent the younger kids back to Italy to live with the grandparents for a time. The younger children did come back but according to Inez's letter all died over a short period of time.
Jan Daniels, who lives in the area, said her mom once owned the rock houses and had fixed them up. Her mom died in 2015 and Jan told about people "partying" in the old caves, breaking out windows and doing other damage. No doubt the old rock houses will survive in some shape or fashion and may again provide shelter in the future. Myself, I think they would make a cool Airbnb.
And about that "blue space-age looking domed structure" mentioned at the beginning of this story, you'll have to read Part 2 of "Stone to space age shelters..." in a future edition of the "Journal" to learn about the monolithic dome in Roundup and its history.
