Idaho Ghost Towns

[Charles B]

BAYHORSE, Custer County, Idaho

This silver mining town is located on Bayhorse Creek Road, along north side of Bayhorse Creek, 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. A cemetery is located west of the charcoal kilns, which are located west of town.

W-Ctr Sec 2, T12N, R18E, BM (Boise Base Line & Meridian)
Latitude: 44.3976983 / 44

 

[Charles B]

BLACK BEAR, Shoshone County, Idaho

Part of the Gem to Burke strip of mining camps in the canyon northeast of Wallace, Black Bear in 2009 consisted of a handful of old mobile homes and a few cabins. At the east end of

 

[Charles B]

BONANZA CITY, Custer County, Idaho

This 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 had1500 people and a busy main street lined with businesses. Some buildings still remain.

NW

 

[Charles B]

BURKE, Shoshone County, Idaho

Located in the eastern end of the Gem to Burke strip of mining camps seven miles northeast of EXIT 62, north of I-90 at Wallace, Burke is a true gem of a ghost town. Ruins include the massive Hecla Mine complex and a small row of commercial buildings.

 

[Charles B]

CAMAS STAGE STATION, Jefferson County, Idaho

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. Possibly at or near the community of Camas, which just over a half mile east of I-15, about 35 miles north of Idaho Falls.

CAMAS:

SE

 

[Charles B]

CENTERVILLE, Boise County, Idaho

2 SITES

NEW CENTERVILLE: Now a scattered 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 gold mining town on Grimes Creek, three miles north of New Centerville. It is north of New Centerville on a graded dirt stage road that follows Grimes Creek north to Pioneerville. It once had 3000 people and had a main street lined with all the necessary buildings to support that many folks. Only rubble and the cemeteries remain.

 

[Charles B]

CHESTERFIELD, Caribou County, Idaho

Founded in 1881, this 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 being restored to their original appearance by Mormon missionaries. Several buildings are open to the public, and docents will guide you through the museum. The Chesterfield Foundation maintains a fascinating website about the town.

 

[Charles B]

CORNWALL, Shoshone County, Idaho

Part of the Gem to Burke strip of mining camps in the canyon northeast of Wallace, Cornwall in 2009 consisted of a handful of old mobile homes and a few cabins. It is located 2.0 miles northeast of the large brick assay office in Gem and 1.1 miles southwest of the huge mill building in Burke.

SW

 

[Charles B]

CRICHTON (I'm looking into this one.....Anybody know anything about it?)

Early in 1884, two rival towns--Crichton and Soldier--got started. They were only five miles apart, and with loss of its post office a decade later, Crichton rapidly declined into a ghost town; in 1896, the abandoned site was converted into a farm. Soldier flourished for almost thirty years, getting a flour mill in 1900 and telephone service in 1901. When a railroad was extended across Camas Prairie in 1911, the line ran almost two miles south of Soldier, and soon New Soldier (quickly renamed Fairfield) replaced the earlier community.

 

[Charles B]

CUSTER, Custer County, Idaho

A class gold mining town on the north side of Yankee Fork Creek, two miles northeast of Bonanza, 26 AIR miles southwest of Challis on Yankee Fork 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

 

[Charles B]

De LAMAR, Owyhee County, Idaho

A silver mining town is along Jordan Creek 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, which were discovered in 1888. Many buildings remain. It was named after Joseph R. De Lamar, a mining investor.

NW

 

[Charles B]

FORT HALL, Bannock Co, Idaho

A replica of the original Fort Hall is located on US 30/91, a mile north of I-15 Exit #67, in southern Pocatello. It was built in the 1960s and is operated as a museum.

The original site is marked by a historic marker and is located along the south side of the Snake River about 200 yards south of the county line, just north of the river

 

[Mason Jarr]

CRICHTON (I'm looking into this one.....Anybody know anything about it?)

Early in 1884, two rival towns--Crichton and Soldier--got started. They were only five miles apart, and with loss of its post office a decade later, Crichton rapidly declined into a ghost town; in 1896, the abandoned site was converted into a farm. Soldier flourished for almost thirty years, getting a flour mill in 1900 and telephone service in 1901. When a railroad was extended across Camas Prairie in 1911, the line ran almost two miles south of Soldier, and soon New Soldier (quickly renamed Fairfield) replaced the earlier community.

There are still some buildings standing in the old town of Soldier. It is almost directly north of the town of Fairfield, but mainly on private property now. Crichton, I've not been able to locate the spot where the town was and the locals say that there is nothing left of it. Here is a link ( http://www.mccarterfamily.com/mccarterpage/stories/idaho_cowboy/1intro.htm ) to the story I mentioned earlier about the cowboy who grew up in the area. It's a long read, but pretty interesting (at least to me). In the bio are some maps of the area including one showing the town of Crichton. There was also another small town just to west of these called Corral. It was supposedly on the bank of Corral Creek (I know where this creek is), but I can't find anything that resembles a town. A lot of history in that area, but it gets mucho snow and normally not clear until sometime in May.

 

[Charles B]

Hello MasonJar,

All the better that it's a difficult one to find. It probably means that it will be a virgin site in the middle of a field. What we know right now is that it was about 5 miles from soldier. I would print out a map and draw a circle 6 miles out from soldier and then begin looking for old roads, possibly beers or sanborn maps (Bob might be able to help here) Then I would look for stagecoach routes and arial photos. Here in Pa. we use PennPilot from Penn State University. It has historical photos as wellas recent ones. An historic arial might show the outlines of foundations if it's a field with no cover.

I'll keep looking.

 

[kayden]

I just looked here & all the US is supported

http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/

Also you may want to try here

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Browse/United_States/Idaho/

Hope this helps

 

[Mason Jarr]

Thanks. I have a Sanborn map for Soldier, but there are none for Crichton. Most of the early towns in Idaho were located near water sources. Crichton was a little on the west side of Elk Creek. Elk Creek is exactly 8 miles from the old townsite of Soldier. So Crichton should be between 6 to 7 miles from Soldier. I've looked through Google Earth extensively, but can't find anything that resembles a foundation. I'm also continuing with research and if I find anything of interest I'll add it in. I have a friend who lives near Fairfield and he has one of the state stops on his farm. He's agreed to let me hunt that site this summer. He's checking with some of his contacts in the area for information on Crichton. There was a lady living there that recently died at 92 and she went to school in Crichton. I should have started searching sooner and I could have interviewed her before she passed away.