The Mai Wah Noodle Parlor And Wah Chong Tai Company Buildings Editorial Photo

Locatead in the Butte, Montana historic district, the The Mai Wah Noodle Parlor and Wah Chong Tai Company building is most notable. In the early 1890s, the Wah Chong Tai Company, Seattle`s oldest mercantile, opened a franchise in Butte on West Galena Street, eventually moving, in 1898, to a new multi-story brick building on the corner of West Mercury Street and China Alley. The mercantile was on the ground floor with an herbal shop at the back and a restaurant on the second floor. The Wah Chong Tai Company helped to anchor Butte`s Chinatown and played an important role in the Chinese community. It was a meeting place where people would go for social interaction, to complete financial transactions, and to find lodgings, translators, and jobs.In 1909, the Wah Chong Tai Company constructed a two-story brick building next door. The new building contained two storefronts on the first floor separated by an entrance to the new Mai Wah Noodle Parlor on the second floor. The building also had a `cheater story,` a floor between the first and second stories that was divided into small rooms with six foot ceilings. These were commonly used as retail shops and lodgings.