Garnet Ghost Town: Kelly's Saloon (Photo Diary)

The mining town of Garnet was established in Montana’s Garnet Mountains in 1895. Today it is a ghost town managed in a state of arrested decay by the Bureau of Land Management and the Garnet Preservation Association. For some reason, saloons were popular in Montana mining towns and at the height of the gold boom, Garnet had 13 saloons which featured not only alcohol, but gambling in the form of card games as well. Respectable women did not go into the saloon, but they could discretely enter the second floor via an outside, back stairway. Upstairs, in the Kelly family residence, they could share a beer and conversation. Kelly’s Saloon is a two-story wooden building that was built sometime prior to 1898.

Wall Paper

In 1926, the saloon was converted into a private residence and an interior wall divided the main floor into two rooms. Newspapers were pasted to the dividing wall as a kind of wallpaper.

The interior partition is shown above.

More Garnet

Public Lands: The Garnet Ghost Town (Photo Diary)

Garnet Ghost Town: Barn, Blacksmith's Shop, and Jail (Photo Diary)

Garnet Ghost Town: Two Log Cabins (Photo Diary)