Aldridge is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in Park County, Montana

Park County, Montana

Park Counties in Montana and Wyoming are among the very few pairs of counties in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines.-National protected areas:* Custer National Forest * Gallatin National Forest...

. The town was originally called Horr from its first settlement in 1901, then Electric, and those names continued to be applied to districts of the town. Established as Aldridge in 1906, the town was located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Gardiner

Gardiner, Montana

Gardiner is a census-designated place in Park County, Montana, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 851 at the 2000 census....

. At its peak the town had a population of 800 to support the principal industries, coal mining

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 and coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 production for use in Helena

Helena, Montana

Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...

 and Butte

Butte, Montana

Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...

. The town was named for W.H. Aldridge, a director of the Montana Coal and Coke Company and general manager of the smelter in East Helena. Mining continued until 1910. The area continues to be noted on maps as Electric.