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Dust in the Wind -

A Guide to American Ghost Towns

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The state of Idaho is rich in natural resources and scenery, and has been drawing people to its high mountains and wide rich river bottoms for nearly 200 years. Fur traders first discovered the Gem State in the 1830s and established fur trading enters here. When migration to Oregon began in the 1840s and the California Gold Rush after 1848, southeastern Idaho became an important traveling area, especially along the Snake River.

In the early 1860s gold was discovered in the mountains to the north of the Snake River basin, and all bets were off. Idaho then enjoyed boom after boom, and rush after rush as the rich deposits of gold, silver, copper and other minerals were discovered and exploited. Mining towns popped up overnight, boomed, and disappeared as the miners went off in search of another rainbow.

Today, because of the low population, and the ruggedness of some of the locations, Idaho has many remaining ghost towns and old mining camps still available for a visit. HOWEVER, many are located in the backcountry and a four-wheel drive vehicle is required to visit them.

Agriculture also played an important role in development of a number of ghost towns. The southern part of the state has wide, rich river lands that are amenable to farming, and during the last few decades of the 19th century and the first couple in the 20th, many farming communities were established to serve these agrarian pursuits. However, as is typical in most farming areas (esp. seen in the Great Plains states), the advent of improved transportation and loss of the small "mom & pop" farms to agricultural conglomerates have doomed many of these towns to ghost hood.

Idaho is rich in ghost towns, and a lifetime could be spent pursuing all of them. Listed below are only a few locations to get you started.

HELP!  (NEW FEATURE) Please check here to find a list of ghost towns that various contacts are looking for.  IF you have any information on these places please e-mail me and I can respond back to those looking for info on these ghosts.

PLEASE NOTE: 

Where photos are indicated thusly (PHOTO!), please use your browser’s “BACK” button to return to this page.  More photos will be added over time.

BAY HORSE

Custer Co.

A class C-silver mining town five miles west of SH 75 at a point seven miles south of Challis. The mines were discovered in 1877. A smelter, stamp mill and six charcoal kilns were built to process the ore. The main street was lined with wooden saloons, boarding houses, stores and other businesses. In 1893 silver was demonetized and the economy took a tumble, taking Bay Horse with it. By the early 1920s, the town was deserted. Wooden buildings still stood in the 1980s.

BONANZA CITY

Custer Co.

This class C-mining town is nine miles north of Sunbeam, which is on SH 75, 44 miles southwest of Challis.  Bonanza was founded in 1876, and four years later boasted 1500 people and a busy main street lined with businesses. Some buildings still remain.

CAMAS STAGE STATION

Jefferson Co.

A class A stage coach station that was the site of a lost treasure legend. The station was located where the stage road crosses Camas Creek. A stage full of gold is said to have been robbed and the gold hidden near a lake on the south side of Camas Creek, south of the station. In the meantime, the station has disappeared also.

CENTERVILLE

Boise Co.

2 SITES

·         NEW CENTERVILLE...Now a scattered class D agricultural community at the junction of the Placerville Road and the Pioneerville Road west of Idaho City in the heart of the Boise Basin. It is just scattered homes, mobile homes and any semblance to a town is gone.

• OLD CENTERVILLE...Old class B gold mining town on Grimes Creek, three miles north of New Centerville. I was told by a local that "You don't want to go there." It is north of New Centerville on a graded dirt stage road that follows Grimes Creek north to Pioneerville. It once had 3000 folks and had a main street lined with all the necessary buildings to support that many folks. Only rubble and the cemeteries remain.

CHESTERFIELD

Caribou Co.

Founded in 1881, this wonderful little class C Mormon agricultural ghost town is due east of Pocatello, 15 miles north of US 30, at a point 12 miles west of Soda Springs.  The buildings are slowly being restored to their original appearance by Mormon missionaries. Several buildings are open to the public (free), and docents will guide you through the museum. The Chesterfield Foundation maintains a fascinating website that is worth looking into.  Chesterfield was our featured Ghost Town of the Month for Feb 2002.  PHOTO!

CUSTER

Custer Co.

A class C-gold mining town on the north side of McKay Creek, two miles north of Bonanza, 34 miles southwest of Challis on dirt road. A museum in the old school house (operated by the Forest Service) and a few buildings are all that remain of this one-time gold camp. Custer was founded in 1876, shortly after General George A. Custer's defeat at the Little Bighorn River.

DeLAMAR

Owyhee Co.

A class C-silver mining town in the Owyhee Mountains, on a graded dirt road 15 miles east of Jordan Valley, Oregon, and ten miles west of Silver City. It was a major 1890s transportation and silver mining center, with a two-mile long main street. About $8 million in silver was dug from the local mines. Many buildings remain.

FORT HALL

Bannock Co.

This class C/F reconstructed ($) replica of the original Fort Hall is located on US 30/91, a mile north of I-15 Exit #67, in Pocatello. Originally established in 1834 by the Hudson Bay Co. as a fur-trading post, it evolved into a military post and an important stopping point on the Oregon Trail. It was also the point at which many California bound emigrants split off and headed south towards California.

GILMORE

Lemhi Co.

This class C-silver mining town is west of SH 28, 18 miles south of Leadore. Gold was discovered here in 1873, but it wasn't until 1889 when silver-lead ores were worked, the town boomed. The mines produced over $12,000,000 in silver and gold by the 1930s, when the town died. Many buildings are said to still remain.

HELENA

Adams Co.

This class C copper mining town was named after Helena, Montana. It dates to the late 1880s and early 1890s, and remains include crumbling log buildings. It is located in the Seven Devils Mountains, just east of the Snake River, northwest of Council.

IDAHO CITY

Boise Co.

This is a touristy, must-see class D-gold mining town. Many old wood and brick buildings remain from the Boise Basin gold rush of 1863 when Idaho City had a population of 6000, and was considered for the territorial capital. After the boom ended in 1888, the town faded, always maintaining some population. Idaho City has grown slightly from a population of 188 in 1960, to 320 in the 1990 census. Today's Idaho City is an active small community, and present county seat proud of its mining heritage. It is located on SH 21, 40 miles northeast of Boise.

LEESBURG

Lemhi Co.

This class C-placer gold mining is located on a rough four-wheel-drive road in the Salmon National Forest, 14 miles northeast of Cobalt, and 8 miles west of US 93 at a point five miles south of Salmon. Leesburg began in 1866, and quickly was home to 3000 folks, and over 100 businesses. A number of wooden buildings are said to remain along what used to be the main street of this isolated community.

MINERAL CITY

Washington Co.

This class B 1880s silver mining town can only be reached by four-wheel drive road. It is due west of Cambridge, and just east of the Snake River. Once had three saloons and a store among its amenities.

PEARL

Gem Co.

A class D gold tough little mining camp east of Emmett and northwest of Boise. It strings along a canyon along Willow Creek. Pearl dates to the late 1860s, but really didn't boom until after 1893. By the early 1900s mining slowed, and not much happened until 1980 and the price of gold increasing.

PIONEERVILLE

Boise Co.

AKA Fort Hog 'em, this 1860s era Boise Basin gold rush town that once had 2000 people, has faded to a scattered community hidden in the hills eight miles northwest of New Centerville. The road in is a rough road (old stage road), and I was advised by locals in New Centerville that it was too rough for my minivan, so we didn't go.

(Response to above listing)

“My parents live in Placerville, ID and told me a few weeks ago that the last resident of Pioneerville died sometime in the last year. You really should visit the now completely abandoned town. Go in the mid summer or during a very cold, but mild, winter (the cold freezes the mud), and your minivan will make it just fine. The roads are too muddy in the spring.

Contributed by Shawna (May 03, 2005)

(Response to the response by Shawna)

“Just to keep your facts updated and current, the last known resident of Pioneerville has not passed away.  The descendants of Constante Rico Poncia who was the postmaster in Pioneerville for over 35 years still own the township and much of the surrounding land, I being one of those descendants.  Regardless, people are welcome to come and look at some of the old buildings, although most of them are inhabited part of the year. 

Sincerely,  Jacob D. Osler (via E-mail May 18, 2006)

NOTE FROM GARY:

Please note: Even though the town may appear deserted, all the property is still owned.  Please respect the rights of the property owners and view all structures from the roadway.  Thank you Jacob for your update.

PLACERVILLE

Boise Co.

Only 20 or so permanent residents still live in this quaint little class D gold mining town northwest of New Centerville. The buildings cluster around a central square, and at the time of our visit nothing was open. In 1863 things were way different. 5000 people along with well over 300 buildings marked the town. Today many summer cabins lie around the edges of town. The Pioneer Cemetery is a must stop as there are hundreds of marked graves overlooking the town.  Placerville was our Ghost Town of the Month for May 2003.

ROCKY BAR

“Rocky Bar had several homes, the jail and a saloon/store (?).  Rocky Bar was empty, someone lived there recently but I believe the last long-time resident had left. This site was accessible by passenger car in the summer, but at least high clearance would be advisable. We visited this site in 2000 before the really bad fire season so I don't know what is left.”

Contributed by “abbzug” (06/30/2003)

RUBY

Owyhee Co.

A class B gold mining town along Jordan Creek and north of Silver City. It dates to the 1860s Jordan Creek/Owyhee Mountains gold and silver rush. It was the original town here, but as people arrived a need

was seen for a better site, and many buildings and the population moved to the south and established Silver City.

SAWTOOTH CITY

Blaine Co.

This class B 1880s silver mining town is located a few miles west of US 93, south of Alturas Lake and southeast of Stanley. It was an outgrowth from the activity at nearby Vienna, and boasted a population of 600 or so. It died by 1889, and only rubble remains.

SILVER CITY

Owyhee Co.

This class D community is considered Idaho's finest old mining town, and is located on a graded dirt road 21 miles southwest of Murphy, and 24 miles east of Jordan Valley, Oregon. Founded in 1863, the silver mines were exceptionally rich. In 1867 the booming city grabbed the Owyhee County seat, which it held until 1935. Some 20,000 people walked its now curled boardwalks, but by 1880 the boom fizzled. In 1942, when the government ordered the mines to close, Silver City was nearly a ghost town. Today, its few citizens jealously guard the remains of the town's weathered wooden buildings, and dusky rock-walled structures.

VIENNA

Blaine Co.

A class B, 1880s silver mining town eight miles north of Sawtooth City. Over 800 people lived and worked here between 1879 and 1892. Only rubble remains, along with a forest service sign.

YELLOWJACKET

“Yellowjacket had a stamp mill with many of the stamps still in the frames. There were also many buildings, some cabins, part of the mill building and the standing remains of a five-story hotel.  Yellowjacket seemed to have a caretaker but no one was there when we were.  This site was accessible by passenger car in the summer, but at least high clearance would be advisable. We visited this site in 2000 before the really bad fire season so I don't know what is left.”

Contributed by “abbzug” (06/30/2003)

Historians estimate that there may be as many

as 50,000 ghost towns scattered across the United States of America. During the next five years, Gary B. Speck Publications will be publishing unique state, regional, and county guides called

The Ghost Town Guru's Guide

to the Ghost Towns of *** ™

These original guides are designed for anybody interested in

ghost towns. Whether you are a casual tourist looking for a new and different place to visit, or a hard-core ghost town researcher, these guides will be just right for you. With over 30 years of research behind them, they will be a welcome addition to any

ghost towner's library.

Thank you, and we'll see you out on the Ghost Town Trail!

For more information on the ghost towns of IDAHO,

contact us at

Ghost Town USA.

E-mailers, PLEASE NOTE:

Due to the tremendous amount of viruses, worms and “spam,” out there, I no longer open any e-mails with unsolicited attachments, OR messages on the subject lines with “Hey”, “Hi”, “Need help”, “Help Please”, “???”, or blank subject lines, etc.  If you do send E-mail asking for information, or sharing information, PLEASE indicate the appropriate location AND state name, or other topic on the “subject” line.  THANK YOU!  :o)

IMPORTANT

These listings and historical vignettes of ghost towns, near-ghost towns and other historical sites in IDAHO above are for informational purposes only, and should NOT be construed to grant permission to trespass, metal detect, relic or treasure hunt at any of the listed sites.

If the reader of this guide is a metal detector user and plans to use this guide to locate sites for metal detecting or relic hunting, it is the READER'S responsibility to obtain written permission from the legal property owners. Please be advised, that any state or nationally owned sites will probably be off-limits to metal detector use. Also be aware of any federal, state or local laws restricting the same.

When you are exploring the ghost towns of IDAHO, please abide by the

Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics.