Garnet, Montana
Encyclopedia
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 Granite County
Granite County, Montana
-National protected areas:*Deerlodge National Forest *Lolo National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,830 people, 1,200 households, and 784 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile . There were 2,074 housing units at an average...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Located on the dirt Wallace Creek Road, it is an abandoned mining town from the 1860s. In First Chance Creek in western Montana, the town is at the edge of the high desert in the Front Range
Front Range
The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across...
, but sheltered in a forest. The town is at about 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
.
Garnet was named for the garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
, a semi-precious stone, and the first item to be mined here, although gold quickly followed. In 1898, as many as 1,000 people lived here; it was abandoned 20 years later when the gold ran out. A fire in 1912 destroyed half the town, which was never rebuilt. Supplies needed in Garnet were generally obtained from nearby Bearmouth
Bearmouth, Montana
Bearmouth was a trading post for the placer mining camps of Beartown, Garnet and Coloma, located in the hills north of Bearmouth. A pioneer family named Lannen operated the gold exchange and ferry boat across the Clark Fork River....
.
Despite this, Garnet is one of the state's best preserved (and least visited) ghost towns. Visitors can book tours with local guides. The best part about Garnet is Garney Day Festival which occurs in the end of June every year. Garnet's oldest living member, Mary Jane Adams Morin, came to visit every year.
The nearest city is Missoula
Missoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
, about 20 miles (32.2 km) to the west. The closest city to the east is 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...
, about 100 miles (160.9 km) away.
Garnet has everything inside of it from hotels, to 13 saloons (bars), and food stores. The hotels were started for passers-by, or people coming to pick up gold. They typically ranged from 1-3 dollars, and the poor miners who could not afford that price could sleep in the attic without any windows for a quarter. It is suspected that Garnet even had a brothel, but prices and the exact whereabouts are uncertain. Garnet was famous for its saloons, at its peak the saloons were one of the hottest spots in Garnet.
Trivia
- Garnet was the site of a 2004 short film, Ghouls Gone Wild, by the band The International Playboys.