During the 1860s, gold lured thousands of miners to Montana’s Garnet Mountains. In 1895, the town of Garnet was established. In 1898, Garnet had a population of about 1,000 and by 1905, only 150 remained. In 1934, gold prices were raised and, together with new technology, another gold boom began. By 1936, the population had increased to 250. With World War II, the boom disappeared and in 1942 the post office closed. By 1948, the general store had closed, and souvenir hunters were looting the town.
One of the things that made Garnet different from many mining towns of this era was that had many families. According to one of the information signs:
“The town attracted more families than did Montana’s earlier mining camps. Dances, hay rides, quilting bees, and picnics provided family oriented social activities. Garnet supports numerous saloons, but its family emphasis tempered usual mining camp vices.”
It was not uncommon for old mining towns to be built with little concern for permanence or planning. Often, the hastily constructed buildings lacked foundations. Today the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Garnet Preservation Association maintain Garnet in a state of arrested decay. According to one of the information signs:
“Workers seek to retain the original materials and building techniques to freeze Garnet in time. The goal is to retain the ghostly nature of the abandoned buildings, while preventing the roofs from caving in and the walls from giving way.”
According to the information pamphlet:
“Garnet is now recognized as one of Montana’s most intact ghost towns, and thousands of visitors make the trek up the steep mountain road each year to experience history first-hand.”
The Garnet Ghost Town is in a forested area and this means that there is a danger from wild fires. According to one of the interpretive signs:
“By using carefully planned logging techniques, public and private landowners have joined efforts to limit disturbance to the land while reducing the fuel load. The end result will help protect Garnet for future generations, aid in restoring the health of the surrounding forest, and better represent what this area looked like during the town’s heyday.”