Phoebe Apperson Hearst’s only son became internationally famous as a heedless practitioner of “Yellow Journalism” and as one model for a composite portrait of the haunted rich man depicted in the landmark Orson Welles’ film “Citizen Kane.”
But posterity’s assessment highlights Phoebe Hearst’s remarkable philanthropy more than the checkered exploits of her offspring, William Randolph Hearst.
Hearst’s beneficiaries included universities, museums, George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the copper smelting town that helped boost the fortunes of Marcus Daly and partners, with George Hearst being one.
The Hearst Free Library in Anaconda opened its doors to the public on June 1, 1898. San Francisco architect F. S. Van Trees designed the building; local builder J. C. Twohy completed it. The Anaconda Standard reported that the library would "compare favorably with any public building in the West."
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Phoebe Hearst maintained the library until 1904, when she handed the keys over to the city of Anaconda. She died in April 1919 in California at the age of 76.
More than a century later, the handsome structure at the intersection of Fourth and Main streets continues to serve the region as a library.
And the building occasionally needs attention.
Sam Walters, director of the Hearst Free Library, described the impetus for work currently underway at the library’s Fourth Street entrance.
“Over 125 years, water and chemicals — ice melt and salt — got in through cracks between the steps and slowly dissolved the brick walls that held the step slabs up,” Walters said. “This caused the cracks between the steps to grow as well as causing the steps to tilt slightly but noticeably.”
In March, the maintenance supervisor for Anaconda-Deer Lodge County noticed movement in a couple of granite steps, recognized the movement as a sign of instability and closed off the stairs.
Hydro-Tech, a Utah-based company that specializes in restoring and repairing historic buildings, won the work with a bid of $288,000. The company has worked previously on the Hearst Free Library and the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Courthouse. The city-county’s general fund will pick up the tab.
Hydro-Tech started work on the steps project on April 30 and estimated then that the work would take six to eight weeks to complete, Walters said.
Wells Hansgen is a co-owner of Hydro-Tech. During a phone interview Thursday, Hansgen estimated the granite slab steps, original to the building, weigh about 1,000 pounds apiece.
Hansgen laughed when asked whether workers found anything interesting when they removed the slabs.
“Unfortunately, no,” he said. “We were expecting maybe an old beer bottle or something. But nothing.”
Walters said Hydro-Tech will stabilize or rebuild the brick supports for the steps and then replace the slabs.
Like new. Like old.