Ghost Towns in Montana
19 documented ghost towns
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Explore the ghost towns of Montana.
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Aldridge
Aldridge was built high on a mountainside to mine coal for the Northern Pacific Railroad. The town had 1,500 residents, a company store, and a dramati...
Bannack
Bannack was Montana's first territorial capital and site of the vigilante hangings of Sheriff Henry Plummer. 60 structures preserved in the state park...
Bannack
Bannack was Montana's first territorial capital (1864-65) and site of the territory's first major gold strike (1862). Sheriff Henry Plummer was secret...
Castle
Castle was a silver mining town named for the castle-like rock formations nearby. The Cumberland Mine was the major producer. At peak, 2,000 people li...
Coloma
Coloma was a gold and silver mining camp deep in Montana's mountains. At its peak, the town had hotels, saloons, and a post office. When the mines clo...
Comet
Comet was a silver and gold milling town near Basin. The Comet Mine produced both silver and gold. Unlike many ghost towns, it was primarily a company...
Coolidge
Coolidge was built around a massive concrete mill that processed ore from the Elkhorn Mine. When silver prices crashed, the operation shut down. The i...
Coolidge
Coolidge was a 20th-century mining town that never achieved its promoters' dreams. The Boston & Montana Development Company built an elaborate 12-mile...
Elkhorn
Elkhorn was a silver boomtown with its own fraternal hall and fine Victorian homes. The Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall are now preserved by Montana ...
Elkhorn
Elkhorn was a silver mining town known for its family-oriented community. A diphtheria epidemic in winter 1889-90 killed many children. Fraternity Hal...
Garnet Ghost Town
Garnet is Montana's best-preserved ACTUAL ghost town—unlike state parks, BLM manages it with minimal intervention. 30+ buildings survive including the...
Garnet
Garnet is one of Montana's best-preserved ghost towns with 30+ original buildings. Named for semi-precious stones found in the area. Unlike rougher mi...
Granite
Granite was Montana's richest silver producer, yielding $35 million. The Bi-Metallic Mine was so rich it paid $1MIL+ in monthly dividends at peak. The...
Kendall
Kendall used the new cyanide process to extract gold from low-grade ore. The technology made mining profitable, and the town boomed. When the ore was ...
Marysville
Marysville was Montana's leading gold producer in the 1880s-90s thanks to the Drumlummon Mine, discovered by Irish immigrant Thomas Cruse. The distric...
Pony
Pony was named for prospector Tecumseh 'Pony' Smith (short stature, loved horses). While neighboring gold camps died, Pony survived as a tiny ranching...
Southern Cross
Southern Cross was a gold mining town at 7,000 feet in the Anaconda Range. At its peak, 2,000 people endured harsh winters to extract gold. When minin...
Taft
Taft was called 'the wickedest city in America'—a lawless railroad construction town that existed for just three years. With 3,000 residents and no la...
Virginia City
Virginia City grew from the Alder Gulch gold strike (May 1863)—one of the richest in history. It was Montana's territorial capital 1865-1875. Sheriff ...