Garnet

Montana · United States · Hotel

A mining town in the Montana hills, still standing. The hotel fire started people leaving, and the hotel is still there with barely a mark on it.

Garnet sits high in the hills of Montana and is one of the best preserved ghost towns in the American west.

It was a gold mining town. A fire took hold of the hotel, and after it people began leaving, and eventually everybody did.

The buildings are still standing and in remarkable condition, and the hotel that burned is still there with surprisingly little damage to show for it.

Garnet had over a thousand people at its peak in the late 1890s, with saloons, a school and a doctor, and it was effectively empty by the 1940s. What kept it standing is what killed it: it is difficult to get to, so nobody came to take the timber.

What is reported in the town comes mostly from the hotel and the saloon.

The site is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to visitors in summer. The road up is not for every vehicle.

FAQ

Where is Garnet located?

Garnet is in Montana, United States.

Image: mypubliclands / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons