Photographs Copyright 2004 by Tom Dempsey. I last
updated this page on May 29, 2008.
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Elkhorn State Park, ghost town:
Image above: Gillian Hall (left) built in the 1880's, served
as a store, saloon, and dance hall. Fraternity Hall (right),
built
in the 1890's, was used for shows, dances, and lodge meetings. The
silver,
gold and lead mines at Elkhorn began booming in 1875, then
declined
in 1892 as silver prices dropped. Today, these two original buildings
are
preserved and open to the public as Elkhorn State Park (managed
by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks). A few miners
still
work the Elkhorn mines and live in private homes near these historic
State
Park buildings within Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests.
Left: The historic Fraternity Hall was built in the 1890's, and
was used for shows, dances, and lodge meetings. Now it is preserved in
Elkhorn State Park, Montana.
Above right: Old ruined interior with wood stove. Elkhorn ghost
town.
Nevada City, a ghost town in Montana:
Nevada City was a booming placer-gold-mining camp from 1863-1876.
A miner's court trial and hanging of George Ives in the main street of
Nevada City was the catalyst for forming the Vigilantes, a group of
citizens
famous for taking justice into their own hands. Now more than 90
buildings
from across Montana have been gathered for preservation at Nevada City,
mostly owned by the people of the state of Montana, and managed by the
Montana Heritage Commission. This fascinating town excites my
imagination
of what life must have been like in early Montana. In 2001, the
excellent
PBS television series "Frontier House" used one of the buildings and
its
furnishings to train families in re-creating pioneer life.
Left: Old wagon and buildings in Nevada City. Above: The Frontier
Ladies Dry Goods Store.
In 1870, Chinese (nearly all male) made up 10% of the territorial population of Montana. Territorial laws prohibited "China Men" from owning placer claims, so they mined the leavings of others or performed laundry or domestic service, which was always in great demand. Today Nevada City contains several fascinating Chinese buildings built about 1890, mostly moved here from Butte, Montana.
Left: Chinese Temple built in 1890 Butte, Montana, moved to Nevada
City. Right: 1890 Chinese laundry.
Left: The Diamond City Building was built 1864, in a town now washed
away by hydraulic gold mining. This building now resides in Nevada
City,
Montana, and was featured in movies such as "Return to Lonesome Dove"
(1993)
and "A Thousand Pieces of Gold" (1989). Below right: reflections in
old-style
glass.
Montana's oldest standing public school, used in the town of Twin
Bridges from 1867-1873, is now preserved in the ghost town of Nevada
City.
Below: Montana's oldest standing public school.
Left: Yellow "Virginia City Water Works" wagon stored in Nevada
City.
Below right: Another old wagon.
Left: The Sedman House was built in 1873 in Junction City (1.5 miles
north of Nevada City) for rancher, gold miner and legislator Oscar
Sedman.
It later became the Junction Hotel, a stable, and finally was moved to
Nevada City for preservation.
Nevada City, a booming placer-gold-mining camp from 1863-1876,
infamous
in the origin of the Vigilantes, is now an intriguing ghost town
managed
by the Montana Heritage Commision.
Montana, USA: Index to this
page:
Elkhorn ,
Nevada
City
See also: 1. Glacier NP, Montana ; 2. Waterton Lakes NP, CANADA ; 3. abstract nature patterns of Waterton-Glacier ; 4. animals & insects of Waterton-Glacier
Copyright 2004 by Tom Dempsey. Photographs may not be copied without permission.