USA
Small Towns of Southwest Montana
Article and photography by Randy Mink
The wide-open spaces of America’s fourth-largest state just seem to invite a road trip and so do the old mining towns scattered between the cattle-dotted grasslands blanketing the Big Sky Country of Southwest Montana.
Set against backdrops of snow-dusted mountains, places like Philipsburg, Anaconda, Butte, Deer Lodge, Virginia City and Helena beckon history-minded wayfarers traveling the 400-mile route between two popular national parks—Glacier and Yellowstone.
Offering heady whiffs of Western flair, each of the following towns deserves a stopover:
Picture-Perfect Philipsburg
A silver mining boomtown in the late 19th century, Philipsburg almost became a ghost town but today is a tourist mecca with an idyllic main street flanked by beautifully restored buildings housing shops, eateries and a microbrewery.
At the Sweet Palace, an old-fashioned candy store, watch candy makers at work and choose from more than 1,000 varieties of sweets, from chocolate peanut clusters to key lime cheesecake fudge.
Since the 1890s, the Philipsburg area has attracted rockhounds searching for gem-quality sapphires. Travelers get into the act at jewelry stores that offer “sapphire mining.” The activity involves paying for a bag or bucket of gravel from a sapphire mine, washing the gravel and going through it with tweezers, all in the hopes of finding a sapphire in the rough.
Butte: Copper Capital of the World
From 1889 to 1982, the “Richest Hill on Earth” produced more than 21 billion pounds of the mineral used in the wires that electrified America.
Butte’s prime attraction is World Museum of Mining, which offers tours through the retired Orphan Girl Mine. Led by a former miner, visitors don headlamp-equipped helmets as they venture 100 feet below ground.
The 1888 Copper King Mansion was the showplace of copper magnate William Andrews Clark and now operates as a museum and bed & breakfast.
Anaconda: Smelter City USA
Steeped in industrial history, Anaconda was home to thousands who worked at the smelter that processed copper from Butte. The 585-foot-tall Anaconda smelter stack is best viewed from below at Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park, an interpretive site for the massive brick landmark.
Multiple Museums in Deer Lodge
Tales of escapes, executions and riots captivate visitors strolling through the cell blocks at Old Montana Prison, a castle-like facility that operated from 1871 to 1979. The prison shop sells inmate-made merchandise ranging from beadwork to hatbands crafted from horsehair.
Prison admission covers neighboring Montana Auto Museum, featuring over 160 antique cars, and Frontier Montana Museum, a treasure chest of guns and other Old West artifacts.
Virginia City and Nevada City
A survivor of 19th century gold rushes, Virginia City is billed as a “living ghost town.” After mining played out, its wooden buildings were in ruin by the 1940s. Today, rehabbed storefronts lining the rustic boardwalks contain displays of period furnishings. There are candy and ice cream shops, gift emporiums and old-time photo studios. Virginia City Players stages melodramas and vaudeville shows.
Nevada City, down the road from Virginia City, was a mining ghost town before being transformed into an open-air museum. Alder Gulch Shortline Railroad connects the two places.
Helena’s Crown Jewel
The new Montana Heritage Center in Helena is a sparkling showcase of all things Montana. Its Charles M. Russell Gallery features an enviable collection of paintings and sculptures by the cowboy artist who brilliantly captured the spirit of the American West.
