Comet, Montana Ghost Town

The last ghost town we visited on our summer camping trip, Comet, Montana, was one of my favorites.  Comet’s first mining claim was in 1869 by John W. Russell and the town was started in 1876.  The area was called the High Ore Mining District.

A row of old cabins greets visitors as they enter town.  There were about 300 people here until the mines started to play out and Comet was described as a ghost town in 1913.

In 1926 the Basin Montana Tunnel Company built a 200 ton concentrator which became the second largest mining venture in Montana.  Local mines went on to produce over 20 million dollars of silver, gold, lead, zinc, and copper.  The mill shown here with the bunkhouse was closed in 1941 and the equipment salvaged.

There are lots of wonderful old buildings like this boarding house.  Miners stayed here for 75 cents room and board.

There wasn’t enough left of this truck to identify it, but my guess is it was used to haul ore, based on the 16 leaf springs.  Comet is privately owned and there is one occupied house, so private property must be respected.  However, buildings can be viewed from the road.

There are still a few houses scattered across the hillside.  The town once had a school with 20 pupils, but they were outnumbered by the 22 saloons.

We had some pretty good clouds that day, and some of them worked well with the collapsing buildings.

There is usually an opportunity for interesting detail photos in places like Comet.

Comet was built on mining, so I will end with a photo of a mine headframe with a trestle connected to an ore bin. There is still a winch in a small building with a cable leading to the shaft on top of the hill.

Remember, these photos are copyrighted and should not be used for any purpose without permission, and usually a small payment, unless used for charitable or academic purposes.

Granite, Montana Ghost Town

I knew that Bruce Gregory and Stephen Johnson would enjoy Granite, Montana based on my visit there in 2005 with my wife and our neighbors.  So, Granite was one of our destinations on our summer camping trip.

There was a silver bonanza in the 1880’s on Granite Mountain, and soon the mountaintop was packed with buildings.  The centerpiece was the magnificent Miner’s Union Hall, now a big brick ruin.  The elegant building once had a dance floor / auditorium, lodge room, office, library, and more.

Mae Werning’s house is down the street.  She was the watchman and last resident of Granite and died in 1969 at age 75.  Most houses now are just piles of lumber or overgrown rock foundations.

Granite Mills A and B together ran 80 stamps until the 1890’s.  In the 1950’s the buildings were intentionally burned for safety reasons, leaving these gigantic foundations.

Just down the road along the face of the mountain ruined structures of the Ruby Mine are on the verge of collapse.
Granite has some of the biggest ghost town structures we have found on our camping trips.  It is amazing to think about what it was like to live and work here more than a century ago.
I hope you enjoy these photos, but please be aware that they are copyrighted and can not be used for any purpose without permission and reasonable compensation.

Crystal, Colorado Ghost Town

Crystal, Colorado is famous for its picturesque "mill", but it is difficult to get there.  I was on my second trip of the year with photographer friends from California.  We knew that the road into Crystal is not for the casual driver.  It requires an ATV or a high clearance vehicle, preferably four wheel drive, and not too big.  The driver should be experienced on very rough roads, and unafraid of driving on narrow, rocky benches with big drop-offs.

In this photo, Bruce Gregory's Nissan Xterra approaches a short bench through a rock slide zone as Stephen Johnson walks the road.  The canyon is so steep that much of the road is in shadow in the middle of the afternoon.

The reward for driving the spectacular road is the Crystal Mill.  This mis-named building was not a mill, but actually housed a huge compressor which was powered by water from the Crystal River that dropped down the vertical penstock.  The compressor ran drills in nearby mines.  The building was built in 1893 and retired in 1917.




We met Chris Cox, owner of the famous "mill", who told us that it is shored up with cables on the inside.  Local volunteers have done concrete work to support the penstock, and have donated their time and labor to replace the roof.  Without their help, the building would have collapsed long ago.




We heard that most people photograph the "mill" and go home, not knowing there is a ghost town just down the road.

There are a dozen or so buildings in a picturesque mountain setting with plenty of aspen trees.

The Cox family has owned the town for five generations.  They have fixed up five of the buildings as rentals that are popular with photographers.  Some of them even have hand-cranked telephones to connect with each other, but not with the outside world.  We thank Chris Cox for his hospitality and information about this beautiful ghost town.