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The Hole in the Wall and the 600 Cafe |
The building that is currently the Hole in the Wall restaurant has a long and checkered history. It was constructed in
1886 by Major Edmond Butler, after the wooden building on the site burned.
Before 1900, it became well known as Nick Nigro's Saloon, and later served
as the Stockman's Bar. After a fire in the 1980's, it was converted into the Hole in the Wall supper club,
with a doorway inserted between it and the neighboring 600 Cafe. A huge basement underneath
these buildings acts as a kitchen and storage area. In an interesting historical note, the back
bar is the original, which came into Miles City by steamship.
At any rate, S.B. worked for a number of years in the joined restaurants. On at least two occasions, she
'caught a flash out of the corner of my eye,' and turned to see a woman seated at a table in the raised
area towards the back of the restaurant, called 'the balcony.' The woman was dressed in long
white dress, and vanished almost as quickly as S.B. saw her. This always seemed to happen about eleven
at night.
A friend, N.C. also worked there, baking at night in the kitchen of the 600 Cafe. She was often
disturbed by a rack of pots that suddenly began moving and clanking. One evening, as the pots began to
sway and bang against each other, she yelled, "Knock it off!" The pots immediately stopped,
and she wasn't disturbed by this trick again.