![]() ![]() A fire raged through the town in 1912, destroying many commercial establishments. AS few as 150 people remained in Garnet and most of the mines were abandoned by 1905. Twenty years after it was established, the gold in Garnet ran out. The jail was available as an incentive to keep rowdy drunkenness at a minimum, or at least a tolerable level.Ī view of the interior of an old home in Garnet, Montana. Saloons and the drinking, gambling, and prostitution that typified many mining camp towns were present but controlled to a great degree. There were dances and parties, picnics and fishing trips, and a genuine social life for its residents. Residents of Garnet did more than just mine for garnets and gold and support the efforts of miners. The population swelled to as many as 1,200 in its prime. The population of Garnet grew and it was much more of a community than typical mining towns. Stagecoach transportation ran daily between Bearmouth and Coloma and supplies were available in Missoula and Deer Lodge, just a three-day’s journey from Garnet. Garnet had four hotels, four stores, two barbershops, a butcher shop, a doctor’s office, laundry facilities, and thirteen saloons.ĭespite its remote location, there was a school and unlike other mining towns, many families resided in Garnet. In 1896, the Nancy Hanks Mine produced $690,000, and the boom continued throughout the 1890s as mining companies rolled into Garnet.īased on the wealth it was producing, you can get a good idea of what life there must have been like when Garnet was thriving. Garnet dates back to 1895, but it wasn’t until an abundant strike at the Nancy Hanks Mine that the town began to boom. Miners worked about 50 mines in the vicinity. Placer mining was practiced around the area later to be established as Garnet in the 1860s, and gold was found at the First Chance Gulch in 1865. Like most mining towns, Garnet wasn’t built to last, yet over a century later, buildings lacking foundations still stand. It was named for the semi-precious garnet rock first mined there before gold was found. ![]() Garnet dates back to the turn of the 20th century. As you might expect (especially when you see it), Garnet has a reputation of being a haunted ghost town. Garnet has an isolated feel to it and is not heavily touristed or commercialized. It is situated in a remote valley located at the head of First Chance Creek, 6,000 feet up in the green pine-forested mountains east of Missoula. If you’ve been to any of Montana’s other well-known ghost towns like Virginia City or Bannack, you’ll find Garnet just as intriguing if not even more so. Such is the case high in the hills of west-central Montana, where the historic ghost town of Garnet is located. In other cases, ghost towns truly are empty and totally uninhabited, aside from archaeologists and occasional tourists passing through. Some ghost towns in the American West such as Oatman, Arizona are not only inhabited but make the most of their opportunity to capitalize on their town’s former glory. Photo by Kathy Weiser-Alexander.Įxploring ghost towns is a fun, entertaining way to relive aspects of the American West. ![]()
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