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Lewis and Clark 200  >>  Montana  >>  Missoula  >>  Community Interest  >>  Recreation Areas  >>  Garnet Ghost Town

Garnet Ghost Town Missoula, Montana Location:    3255 Fort Missoula Road Missoula 59801 406-329-3914 This web page has had 1887 unique visitors. Garnet Ghost Town Website Buy Patrick Clark posters online. Buy Patrick Clark posters online. Description: The Garnet Ghost Town, eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, is an historic mining town located in west central Montana. The town dates back to 1895 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Garnet Preservation Association, a non-profit citizens group. More than 30 buildings have been preserved. Visitors to the ghost town will find a Visitor Center, interpretive signs and self-guided trails. Leashed pets are permitted. Garnet Ghost Town is open to visitors all year, but closed to wheeled vehicles from 1/1 - 4/30Garnet Ghost Town offers a wonderful ghost town experience. It has not been rebuilt so as to diminish its authenticity. Placer miners were active in the area as early as the 1860’s. It wasn’t until an abundance of gold was discovered at the Nancy Hanks Mine in 1898 that Garnet became a boom town. Garnet was host to nearly 1,000 people and several hotels, saloon, stores, a school, a Chinese laundry and a barber shop. By 1950 the town was deserted. Now days visitors can walk through town and wander into several of the buildings, including the three story J.K. Wells Hotel. A self guided walking tour is available, as well as books, cards and other memorabilia. In winter, this area is accessible by snowmobiling or skiing only. Winter cabin rentals available. .A ghost town that refuses to die. Garnet serves as one of Montana’s most impressive ghost towns. Almost 6,000 feet up in the air, it has never had a bonanza strike, yet miners still persist, convinced its day will come. Garnet and the entire mountain was named such for the brown garnet rock found there, used as an abrasive and a semi-precious stone. During its heyday advertisements were run concerning anything from saloons, to medicine remedies. Placer gold was found in the First Chance gulch in 1865, most of which was recovered by drift diggings. (Garnet is at the head of First Chance Creek). Many millions in gold were taken from the Garnet area from 1862 to 1916. In 1867 the mother lode was discovered, it contained three main veins, and several pockets of rich ore. There were about fifty mines in the area. The largest boom came in the 1890’s when the mining companies came and consolidated the best properties. The richest mine was the Nancy Hanks, which produced $690,000 in the peak year of 1896. Garnet then had 7 saloons, three hotels, and a daily stage between Bearmouth and Coloma. The Nancy Hank mine continued to work, on and off, until 1954. Between the years of 1897 and 1917 $950,000 had been produced, 95% of which was gold, the rest copper and silver. During the 1950’s efforts were made to pump out the Nancy Hank mine. By 1960 the Montana School of Mines declared the mine dead, unprofitable. In 1912 nearly half the town burned down and was never rebuilt. Restoration work began in 1970 by the Garnet Preservation Project. The public donated $90,000 worth of artifacts. The structures being restored include the J.R. Wells Hotel, Dahl’s Saloon, Kelly’s Bar, and the F.A. Davey’s Store. In the summer of 1971 15,000 people visited Garnet."