There's no denying that Montana has some amazingly well-preserved (and frequently visited) ghost towns, like Bannack State Park and Garnet. But we've also got quite a few abandoned towns from our state's early mining and railroad days that remain under the radar, with buildings slowly eroding. Coolidge Ghost Town is one of those places.
Coolidge was a small town created by a former politician, William R. Allen.
Allen was elected Montana's lieutenant governor in 1908, and soon after he began buying mining claims in the Elkhorn Mining District. In 1913, he quit politics to focus on his business.
Allen was said to have named the town after his friend Calvin Coolidge. And by 1919, Coolidge was thriving.
It soon became Montana's largest (and final) silver development.
By 1922, the town had both telephone service and electricity as well as a post office.
But the national economy soon took a downturn, causing the silver industry to plummet. A string of bad luck caused Allen to lose his fortune, and by 1932, the town was pretty much abandoned.
The days, what remains of Coolidge sits in the woods, largely forgotten by Montanans.
The ghost town is located south of Butte. To reach it, you'll drive west on SR-43 from I-15, then south onto NF-73 (Wise River Polaris Road). Finally, a one mile walk through a in the forest is required to reach the town itself.
It clearly took a lot of determination to live here.
The winters were extremely cold and snowy, and the town didn't thrive for long before silver prices plummeted.
If you're ever in the area, come check out this little piece of local history.
You'll still find plenty of old cabins, the remains of the schoolhouse, and even parts of the old mill.
Coolidge Ghost Town is a great place to spend an afternoon exploring. But if you'd rather enjoy a livelier ghost town experience, add a visit to Virginia City to your summer plans.
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