If you love learning about abandoned towns and cities you are in for a treat. This little town in Montana state in the US has been a ghost town for more than a hundred years.

Brief history

The town we are talking about is called Garnet and is located in Granite County, Montana, USA. It was originally established as a mining town and dates back to early 1860s. Originally Garnet was named Mitchell in 1895 and only had 10 buildings. Only later the officials decided to give it a more accurate name – as it was built on a Garnet lode, the town was renamed and became what is known today – Garnet.

When the mining prospered in Garnet, many people relocated to this town in order to have a better future for themselves. At one point more than a 1,000 miners and their families lived there and the number was rapidly increasing due to the amount of gold that was found.

Unfortunately, in mid 1910s the precious metal ran out which left people no other choice but to leave. In addition to that, in 1912, there was a massive fire which destroyed half of the town, which was never rebuilt.

Garnet today

The location and environs of Garnet is just stunning – it is about 1,800m (6,000 feet) above the sea level and is surrounded by mountains and forests. If you are a fan of horror movies, especially the ones where college kids get lost somewhere in American country side and then hunted down by the locals, Garnet is a perfect representation of these locations.

The town has all the buildings you probably imagine it to have – classic saloons, hotels, stores and etc. In fact they are so preserved that Garnet gets around 16,000 visitors annually. Back in a day when the town was thriving, many people used to come just to pick up gold, so the local businessmen and hotel owners used to charge $1-$3 per for accommodation. If the visitors could not afford that, they had another option – for $0.25 they could spend a night in an attic without any windows or comfort.

Up to this day, Garnet has its own celebration – third Saturday of the year is the annual Garnet Day where relatives of town’s historical dwellers and other visitors come to this town to celebrate.

If you are a fan of abandoned locations, photographer or just want to see historical and very well preserved site – you will love Garnet.

For more information and detailed instructions on how to get there have a look at their official website.