Ghost Towns of Montana

Granite Ghost Town State Park showcases remnants of this once thriving 1890s silver boomtown that bears stark witness to Montana’s boom-and-bust mining history. Hector Horton first discovered silver in the general area in 1865. In the autumn of 1872 the Granite mine was discovered by a prospector named Holland. The mine was relocated in 1875. This was the richest silver mine on the earth, and it might never have been discovered if a telegram from the east hadn’t been delayed. The miner’s backers thought the venture was hopeless and ordered an end to its operation, but since that message was delayed the miners worked on and the last blast on the last shift uncovered a bonanza, which yielded $40,000,000.

In the silver panic of 1893, word came to shut the mine down. The mine was deserted for three years, never again would it reach the population it once had of 3,000 miners.

Today there is no one living in the camp. The state park preserves the Granite Mine Superintendent’s house and ruins of the old miners’ Union Hall which have been included in the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The road from Philipsburg to Granite gains 1,280 feet in elevation. The road is narrow, steep and winding. Be prepared to pull over for oncoming traffic and enjoy the vistas.

Garnet was named for the semi-precious ruby-colored stone found in the area and it was a good place to live. The surrounding mountains were rich in gold-bearing quartz. There was a school, the crime rate was low, and liquor flowed freely in the town’s many saloons. The bawdy houses did a brisk business and Missoula and Deer Lodge were close enough for necessary supplies.

In the 1800s miners migrated north from played-out placer mines in California and Colorado. Placer mining of gold or other minerals is done by washing the sand, gravel, etc. with running water, but by 1870 most area placer mining was no longer profitable. The Garnet Mountains attracted miners who collected the gold first by panning, then by using rockers and sluice boxes as the free-floating gold diminished. Although miners had located gold-bearing quartz veins, the lack of decent roads and refined extracting and smelting techniques, made further development unfeasible at that time. Silver mines elsewhere started to draw the miners out of the Garnet Mountains, but in 1893, the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act set off a panic throughout the region. Silver mines closed, and within weeks thousands of unemployed miners were on to gold mining in the Garnets. Miners began to trickle back.

Bannack Ghost Town State Park is a National Historic Landmark and the site of Montana’s first major gold discovery on July 28, 1862. This strike set off a massive gold rush that swelled Bannack’s population to over 3,000 by 1863. As the value of gold steadily dwindled, Bannack’s bustling population was slowly lost. Over 50 buildings line Main Street; their historic log and frame structures recall Montana’s formative years.

Tours are conducted from the visitor center, which is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Bannack Days, with historic displays, re-enactors, and activities, are held annually the 3rd weekend in July.

The park is 5,837 feet in elevation and 1,529 acres. The campground has 28 sites and a group picnic site. A rental tipi is located in the campground situated along Grasshopper Creek.

In the winter months, dress warmly and skate on the frozen dredge pond from sometime in January to the first week in March (weather permitting). Warming house hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Skates are available to use or you may bring your own.

In the 1940s, Charles and Sue Bovey began buying the town, putting much needed maintenance into failing structures. The ghost town of Virginia City began to be restored for tourism in the 1950s. Most of the city is now owned by the state government and is a National Historic Landmark operated as an open-air museum. Of the nearly three hundred structures in town, almost half were built prior to 1900. Buildings in their original condition with Old West period displays and information plaques stand next to thoroughly modern diners and other amenities.

The Historic District of Virginia City and Nevada City is currently operated by the Montana Historic Commission and is the top state-owned tourist attraction in Montana. The Commission operates gold panning, a historic hotel, and the longest continuously operating live summer theater company in the western United States.

Virginia City also has a Boothill Cemetery. The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Alder Gulch Short Line Railroad transports passengers by rail to the nearby ghost town of Nevada City, Montana, and back.

In the 1880s, Nevada City was one of the two major centers of Commerce in what was known as one of the “Richest Gold Strikes in the Rocky Mountain West”, it shared that role with its sister city Virginia City. Since the late 1990s, Nevada City has become one of Montana’s biggest tourist attractions, as well as a largely residential area.

Much of the lore in Marysville was centered on one Irishman, “Irish Tommy” Cruise. He would come here to look for gold but would return with an empty poke and a smile. He didn’t have much money and often slept in a bar counter in Helena. One day, in a site near present-day Marysville, he hit it rich. He named the site Drumlummon, after his birthplace in Ireland, and founded Marysville. Some believe it was named so because the first person there was a Mary Ralston. Others believed it was for the first three Mary’s there. Also, another said it was after one of Tommy’s associates. Tommy got $150,000 before selling it for $1,500,000.

Backcountry roads settle you into a 19th century mining landscape before you reach historic Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall nestled within the privately owned town of Elkhorn. Bring your camera to record these two picturesque structures from the early-day silver-mining ghost town, preserved as outstanding examples of frontier architecture. Each has been recorded in the Historic American Buildings Survey.