Granite, Montana

46°19′03″N 113°14′40″W / 46.31750°N 113.24444°W / 46.31750; -113.24444^[1]Area0.6 acres (0.24 ha)^[2]Elevation7,001 ft (2,134 m)^[1]DesignationMontana state parkEstablished1875^[3]AdministratorMontana Fish, Wildlife & ParksWebsiteGranite Ghost Town State Park

Granite is a ghost town in Granite County, Montana, United States, three miles east of the town of Philipsburg. Granite thrived as a silver mining town in the 1890s and is now completely deserted. The state of Montana maintains the mine superintendent's house and the ruins of the union hall as Granite Ghost Town State Park.^[4]

History

In 1872, Eli Holland found a small quantity of high quality ruby silver in the area. A shallow shaft was dug, but later abandoned until 1877, when Charles McLure discovered some silver ore in the shaft. He later traveled to St. Louis to obtain the capital necessary to begin development of the mine.^[5]

Granite eventually grew to a town with more than 3,000 inhabitants. For the time period, there were many modern amenities, such as the large Miners Union Hall, a library, 18 saloons, brothels, a hospital and school as well as churches.

The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893, drastically lowering the price of silver, and many residents left Granite, leaving only 140 residents a year later. Granite is currently entirely uninhabited.

References

^ ^a ^b "Granite State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ "Now You Know". Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2018. Smallest—Granite Ghost Town State Park, with .6 acres (1.5 buildings)
^ "Park Origin by Date". Montana State Parks. 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
^ "Granite Ghost Town State Park". Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
^ "Granite County Ghost Towns". Philipsburg Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved June 7, 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Granite, Montana.

Granite Ghost Town State Park Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Protected areas of Montana

Federal

National parks	Glacier Yellowstone
National monuments	Little Bighorn Battlefield Pompeys Pillar (BLM) Upper Missouri River Breaks (BLM)
National battlefield	Big Hole
National historical parks and historic sites	Grant–Kohrs Ranch NHS Nez Perce NHP
National historic and scenic trails	Lewis and Clark NHT Nez Perce NHT Continental Divide NST Pacific Northwest NST
National recreation area	Bighorn Canyon
National Wildlife Refuges	Benton Lake Black Coulee Bowdoin Charles M. Russell Creedman Coulee Grass Lake Hailstone Hewitt Lake Lake Mason Lake Thibadeau Lamesteer Lee Metcalf Lost Trail Medicine Lake Ninepipe Pablo Red Rock Lakes Swan River UL Bend War Horse
National Forests	Beaverhead–Deerlodge Bitterroot Custer Flathead Gallatin Helena Kootenai Lewis and Clark Lolo
National Wilderness	Absaroka–Beartooth Anaconda–Pintler Bear Trap Canyon Bob Marshall Cabinet Mountains Gates of the Mountains Great Bear Lee Metcalf Medicine Lake Mission Mountains Rattlesnake Red Rock Lakes Scapegoat Selway–Bitterroot UL Bend Welcome Creek
National wild and scenic rivers	East Rosebud Creek Flathead Missouri

State

State parks	Ackley Lake Anaconda Smoke Stack Bannack Beaverhead Rock Beavertail Hill Big Arm Black Sandy Brush Lake Chief Plenty Coups Clark's Lookout Cooney Council Grove Elkhorn Finley First Peoples Buffalo Jump Fort Owen Frenchtown Pond Giant Springs Granite Ghost Town Greycliff Prairie Dog Town Hell Creek Lake Elmo Lake Mary Ronan Lewis and Clark Caverns Logan Lone Pine Lost Creek Madison Buffalo Jump Makoshika Medicine Rocks Missouri Headwaters Painted Rocks Parker Homestead Pictograph Cave Pirogue Island Placid Lake Rosebud Battlefield Salmon Lake Sluice Boxes Smith River Somers Beach Spring Meadow Lake Thompson Falls Tongue River Reservoir Tower Rock Travelers' Rest Wayfarers West Shore Whitefish Lake Wild Horse Island Yellow Bay
State forests	Clearwater Coal Creek Lincoln Lubrecht Experimental Stillwater Sula Swan River Thompson River
Wildlife Management Areas	Amelia Island Aunt Molly Badlands Beartooth Beckman Big Lake Blackfoot-Clearwater Blackleaf Blue Eyed Nellie Bowdoin Buffalo Head Park Bull River Calf Creek Canyon Creek Canyon Ferry Dodson Creek Dodson Dam Dome Mountain Ear Mountain Elk Island F Island Flathead Lake Flathead River Fleecer Mountain Fox Lake Freezout Lake Fresno Reservoir Fresno Tailwater Gallatin Garrity Mountain Grant Marsh Gravelly-Blacktail Haymaker Hinsdale Horseshoe Lake Howard Valley Isaac Homestead Judith River Kootenai/Falls Kootenai/West Kootenai/Woods Ranch Lake Helena Lost Creek Lower Stillwater Lake Madison-Bear Creek Madison-Wall Creek Milk River Mount Haggin Mount Jumbo Mount Silcox Nevada Lake Ninepipe North Swan Valley CE Pablo Ray Kuhns Robb-Ledford Rookery Roundhom Sanders Seven Sisters Silver Gate Silver Run Smith River Sun River Swan Lake Thompson-Fisher CE Three Mile Threemile Vandalia War Dance Island Warm Springs

Other

Nonprofit	American Prairie
Tribal	CSKT Bison Range

v t e Municipalities and communities of Granite County, Montana, United States
County seat: Philipsburg
Towns	Drummond Philipsburg	Granite County map
CDPs	Hall Maxville
Unincorporated communities	Beartown New Chicago Quigley Princeton Sherryl Stone
Ghost towns	Bearmouth Garnet Granite Nimrod
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