Granite, Montana

Granite is a ghost town in Granite County, Montana, United States, east of the town of Philipsburg. Granite thrived as a silver mining town in the 1890s, but is now completely deserted.

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. [http://philipsburgmt.com/index.php?page=ghost_towns#GRANITE]

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 Miner's Union Hall, a library, 18 saloons, brothels, a hospital, 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The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893, drastically lowering the price of silver, and many residents left Granite, leaving only 140 residents a year later.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. [cite web|url=http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_280883.aspx| title=Granite Ghost Town|accessdate=2007-02-02 |publisher=Montana State Website]

References