Photographs of Elkhorn taken in the 1970s show an extensive townsite with dozens of deserted wooden buildings. Unfortunately, time, weather, fire, and capitalism have reduced it to what it is today: an amalgam of ruins, modern occupied structures, a certain amount of junk—and two of the best buildings in the ghost town West.
Gravity and Montana’s harsh winters helped some deserted structures collapse. Fire destroyed one of the town’s premier residences. But several of the better buildings, including the two-story Grand Hotel, were dismantled and sold for the valuable siding or for reassembly elsewhere. If it weren’t for Gillian Hall and Fraternity Hall, which constitute the smallest state park in Montana, Elkhorn wouldn’t be included in this book. But every ghost town enthusiast simply must see these two buildings.
The rush to Elkhorn began when Swiss prospector Peter Wys found rich silver ore in 1870. He died only two years later, however, and it was Anton M. Holter, a miner from another of Montana’s booming camps, Virginia City, who made the fortune from Wys’ claim beginning in 1875. His Elkhorn Mine became a solid silver producer, which, when sold in 1888 to a British corporation for one-half million dollars, was bringing in thirty thousand dollars monthly. That corporation improved the mining and milling processes and recouped their investment within two years.
But they only had three more years of prosperity because the Silver Crash of 1893 was the beginning of the end for Elkhorn. The once-vibrant town of twenty-five hundred people lost more than 75 percent of its population in two months.
Limited mining, along with a reworking of old tailings, occurred sporadically until 1951, but the post office only held on until 1924.
WALKING AND DRIVING AROUND ELKHORN
Except for the two halls, Elkhorn is all on private property, but you can see almost everything from the road. I’d recommend leaving your car in the parking area just south of town, where there is also a public toilet and an interpretive sign. Walk into town and notice the posted signs that either tell what purpose a structure served in the community or what used to occupy a now-vacant site.
Two of the most photogenic and famous ghost town buildings of the Mountain West are Elkhorn’s Gillian Hall (left) and Fraternity Hall.
The buildings that brought you to Elkhorn are hard to miss: The 1880s Gillian Hall and the 1893 Fraternity Hall dominate the town. At this writing, you can walk into each building (but be sure to secure the doors when you leave). The older Gillian Hall featured one commercial enterprise after another on the main floor, while the upstairs had a saloon and dance hall. Its neighbor, Fraternity Hall, was built through donations to be a community center, complete with a first-story auditorium, featuring a proscenium arch stage for theatrical productions and dance bands. On the second floor was a meeting place for various lodge groups. The building was officially opened, with the Cornish Glee Club and the Elkhorn Brass Band leading the celebration, on July 4, 1893. The euphoria was short-lived: In November of that year came the calamitous drop in silver prices and the emptying of Elkhorn.
Directly across the street from the halls stands a white clapboard structure that served as the town’s general store well after the peak years of Elkhorn’s prosperity.
Beyond the halls are several vacant lots and small cabins. At the north end of town, closed to the public, are the considerable remains of the Elkhorn Mine’s milling remnants.
Elkhorn’s cemetery is .9 of a mile away from town, so you might want to return to your car. Follow the main road north from town as it winds around to the east and then to the south (a sign points the way). For part of your journey, you’ll be on an old railroad bed.
One of the first headstones at the cemetery is for Peter Wys, the original discoverer of Elkhorn’s riches. His monument was placed in 1912 as a commemoration, forty years after his death, of his importance to the community. The graveyard, which is still in use, features several dozen markers of various materials: wood, marble, and at least one of pot metal. (These metal markers, which were usually purchased from mail-order catalogues, look like dark marble, but if you tap them with a coin, you will hear that they are metal.) You will also find several markers of young children who died in 1889 during a diphtheria outbreak.
On your way back to the townsite, stop for a moment to survey the town and, especially, the huge workings of the Elkhorn Mine’s mill. What you could not see from street level spreads out before you.
WHEN YOU GO
From Comet, return to Interstate 15 and drive 4.3 miles northeast to Exit 164. Follow Montana Highway 69 through Boulder (make a one-block detour west on Third Avenue to see the handsome 1888 Jefferson County Courthouse) for 7.2 miles to Forest Service Road 517, which is marked for Elkhorn. In 3.1 miles, turn left onto Forest Service Road 258, which in 8.2 miles will take you to Elkhorn. As you near the townsite, you’ll see a stone powderhouse on your right, followed immediately on your left by a huge tailings pile with a rusting boiler at its base.