Garnet, Montana

Miners prospected in the Garnet Mountains beginning in the 1860s. When a stamp mill was built at First Chance Gulch in 1895, a small town grew up nearby. Originally named Mitchell, the town changed its name to Garnet in 1897. In its heyday, Garnet boasted close to thirteen saloons (bars), as well as grocery stores, a barber shop, mercantile store, and three hotels. The hotels were started for passersby or people coming to pick up gold. Their rates typically ranged from $1–3, and the poor miners who could not afford that price could sleep in the attic without any windows for a quarter.

Architects/builders included Ole Dahl, who built Dahl Saloon (also known as Ole's and as "The Joint") and the Dahl House, Robert Moore who built Kelly's Saloon, Hugh Hannifen who built Hannifen House, Judson and Blaidsell who built the F.A. Davey Store, and John and Winifred Wells who built the Wells Hotel. Supplies needed in Garnet were generally obtained from nearby Bearmouth.

In 1898, as many as one thousand people lived in Garnet, but the boom was short lived. By 1900, three hundred people called the town home. Population declined, rose, and declined again with the fortunes of local mines. A fire in 1912 destroyed much of the town.{{cite journal |last1=Crawford |first1=Don L. |last2=Crawford |first2=Melinda Blanchard |title=Just a Name on a Grave? Discovering the Story of an Unknown Montana Miner |journal=Montana The Magazine of Western History |date=Winter 2010 |volume=60 |issue=4 |page=58 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27922549 |access-date=5 December 2023}}

File:garnet-mt-27.jpg

Despite this, Garnet is one of the state's best preserved ghost towns with 16,000 visitors annually. The annual celebration the third Saturday of each year is Garnet Day. Garnet's oldest living member, Mary Jane Adams Morin, came to visit every year.{{cite web|last=The Missoulian|title=Mary Jane Morin|url=http://missoulian.com/news/local/obituaries/article_5718ba6e-321c-11e0-8d50-001cc4c002e0.html|accessdate=25 May 2011}}

File:Wells Hotel, Garnet Ghost Town, Montana.jpg

The town was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Garnet Historic District, a historic district, in 2010. The listing included 82 contributing buildings, 46 contributing structures, and 56 contributing sites, as well as four non-contributing buildings, on {{convert|134|acre|ha}}. The buildings are mostly at the north end of First Chance Gulch, but the listing includes mining structures in a wider area extending in all directions from the town site.

The area is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and is included in its Garnet Resource Area.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=10000547}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Garnet Historic District / Garnet Ghost Town; 24GN54 |publisher=National Park Service|author=Jerry Clark, Terri Wolfgram |author2= Maria Craig |author3= Allan J. Mathews |date=March 1, 2010 |accessdate=February 12, 2019}} Includes maps and 68 photos from 2008.

In First Chance Gulch in western Montana, the town is located 11 miles up the Garnet Range Road, in mountains and forest. The town is at approximately {{convert|6000|ft|m}} elevation. The nearest city is Missoula, approximately {{convert|20|mi|km}} to the west. The closest city to the east is Butte, about {{convert|100|mi|km}} away.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://scholarworks.umt.edu/garnethistory_interviews/ Garnet Montana Oral History Project] (University of Montana Archives)
• [https://scholarworks.umt.edu/garnet_oralhistory/ Garnet Preservation Association Oral History Project] (University of Montana Archives)
• [https://www.blm.gov/visit/garnet-ghost-town/ Bureau of Land Management]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120618040343/http://www.garnetghosttown.net/ GarnetGhostTown.net]
• [http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=908&SiteID=1 Visit Montana.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402171528/http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=908&SiteID=1 |date=April 2, 2012 }}
• [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/mt-garnet.html Garnet- Montana's Best Kept Ghost Town Secret]
• [http://www.garnetghosttown.org/ Garnet Preservation Association]

{{Granite County, Montana}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

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Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Granite County, Montana

Category:Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements architecture

Category:1895 establishments in Montana

Category:Ghost towns in Montana

Category:Geography of Granite County, Montana

Category:Open-air museums in Montana

Category:Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana