ghost town

An old town hides in the mountains of Montana. The name of it is Garnet. Most people today simply call it a ghost town. Many buildings still stand, but the town is silent. The last person who lived in the town of Garnet was a storeowner who died in 1947.

Garnet was started by families who came looking for gold in 1898. Over 1,000 people made their homes in the town. The men and women built the town by hand. Men worked hard inside the mines. They used simple hand tools and steam engines. Sixty thousand ounces of gold were mined near Garnet. Fifty thousand ounces of silver were found. Sixty thousand ounces of copper were put into mining cars.

The town was not built to last very long. After five years, the gold was almost gone. The copper was gone. Only a little silver remained. One hundred fifty people lived in the town at that point.

World War I took the men away from the town. People packed their bags. They took their families and moved away. A fire ruined most of the buildings in Garnet in 1912.

Garnet became a ghost town overnight. Today, the town of Garnet is full of history. It is a quiet place to walk around and hear whispers about life in the past.