The mountains around Butte, Montana are full of old mining sites, abandoned mines and ghost towns from the silver mining boom and bust as well as more modern operations.
The Anaconda smelter stack was just recently determined safe by the EPA as the 300 square mile superfund site has been capped with a layer of soil. Started in 1884, the site became a superfund site by the 1980s and they have been working on the clean up ever since.
Fun Fact: The Anaconda Smelter Stack is the tallest surviving masonry structure in the world, with an overall height of about 585 feet (178.3 m).
There is also the Berkeley Pit just outside of Butte, MT. The Berkeley Pit, was Butte’s first large truck-operated open-pit copper mine until mining ceased in 1982. By 1980 nearly 1.5 billion tons of material had been removed from the Pit, including more than 290 million tons of copper ore. The pit enabled Butte to claim the title The Richest Hill on Earth but it left behind a giant toxic soup.
Long before these modern mines, there were thousands of small hand dug mines spread through out the area.
Bannack State Park, Virginia City and Nevada City – Must See Ghost Towns
Located in the same region, these three Montana ghost towns have the best preserved buildings. Bannack is a State Park with an entire street of old mining houses and businesses. Virginia City is a living ghost town with restaurants, shops, galleries and a theater. Nevada City is a collection of historic Montana building that have been moved into a collection that makes up a historic museum.
Beyond the “mainstream” ghost towns
Hundreds of ghost towns and mining sites still exist in these mountains, abet with varying stages of decay. Luckily the remoteness of these areas and low humidity keep the relics of this mining boom at bay and remants still exist for those who want to hunt out these sites.
Montana silver mining was a major industry in the 1800s following discovery of numerous silver deposits. Between 1883 and 1891 Montana was second every year to Colorado in silver production, except for 1887 when Montana was number one, producing approximately $15.5 million worth of silver.
– Wikipedia
The government purchases of silver were subsequently nearly doubled by the 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act, further extending the boom into the early 1890s. The repeal of the act in 1893 resulted in a collapse of silver prices, bringing about an end to the boom. After 1893, many mining camps became ghost towns.
Glendale Smelter and Canyon Creek Charcoal Kilns
The Canyon Creek Charcoal Kilns (11 miles down a gravel road outside Melrose, Montana – follow the signs for Salmon Fly fishing access and continue on, take a right after passing through the private Glendale, ghost town).
On this site 23 kilns set trees ablaze to produce charcoal for the smelter, in the nearby mining town of Glendale. The process of burning wood with minimal oxegen, produces nearly pure carbon charcoal which burns hotter than wood. The wood was tightly stacked inside the kilns, ignighted and then once the fire was going, the kilns were sealed. The wood smoldered for days. Then water was poured into the kilns to extinguish the fire and allowed to cool for several more days. With 23 kilns in operation and wood harvested in the mountains above, and dropped down via wooden chutes, the charcoal operation provided a steady supply of charcoal for the smelter in the town below.
In the 1990s, three of the kilns were restored to their original condition – as they were all painted with white limestone and had wooden pressure bands. The rest have been left in a state of decay. You can still see the smoke coated bricks and explore the various kilns of varying stubiliy.
Unfortunately the site hasn’t been maintained for decades. The outhouse seems “newer” but the interprative signs are worn and the site has become overgrown with small trees. One always has to wonder how much longer some of these ruins from the past will still be visable.
Photos by Wendy Fielding
ELKHORN STATE PARK
Elkhorn State Park preserves the remnants of this 19th century mining town preserved as examples of frontier architecture.
The drive up to Elkhorn is a beautiful day trip from Bozeman, MT through farmland, ranches and state forest up into the moutain town of Elkhorn which today actually has some residents living in the old ghost town houses as well as the tiny section of building that make up the state park. Just before the town is a nice picnic area with trails. Don’t miss the graveyard up above the town with it’s historic grave markers.
