This Wild West Ghost Town Has Montana’s Oldest Bar, A Frontier Opera House, And Vigilante Artifacts

Meet Montana’s Virginia City

One of America’s most fascinating frontier towns is Virginia City in Montana. It’s now a National Historic Landmark with over 200+ carefully preserved buildings straight from the Wild West.

Here’s what you should visit this year.

The Birth of a Gold Rush Town

Virginia City was founded in 1863 after miners struck gold in Alder Gulch. The area became so rich that it produced over $30 million worth of gold in just three years, the biggest gold rush in the Rocky Mountains.

By 1865, it was named Montana’s capital, and nearly 10,000 people lived there. But as the gold ran out in the 1870s, the town shrank.

Fun fact: The town was almost called “Verina” after the wife of a Confederate leader, but it was named Virginia City instead.

Virginia City’s Vigilante Committee

In the 1860s, outlaws caused chaos in Virginia City. To fight back, a group called the Vigilante Committee hanged over 15 criminals, including Sheriff Henry Plummer, who was secretly leading a gang.

The group started after George Ives, a criminal, had a trial that caused a lot of arguments. They made strict rules where the only punishment was death. They even left a creepy code—“3-7-77”—on doors to scare troublemakers.

People still argue today about whether the vigilantes were heroes or went too far.

Charles and Sue Bovey

By the 1940s, Virginia City’s old buildings were falling apart. A couple named Charles and Sue Bovey stepped in to save them.

They fixed up places like Nevada City, a nearby ghost town, and collected old items like wagons and tools to display in museums. Their hard work helped Virginia City become a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

Their son Ford later moved historic cabins to Nevada City to make it look like a real 1860s mining town.

Montana Helps Preserve the Ghost Town

Montana bought most of the town in 1997 to protect its more than 200 historic buildings. These included old saloons, stores, and houses.

The state bought 240 properties from the Bovey family and continues to work with the National Park Service to keep them in good shape. Among these buildings are Montana’s oldest bar and a telegraph office from 1864 that still works today.

An Official National Historic Landmark

Virginia City became a National Historic Landmark in 1961. This special title helps protect its old buildings and Boot Hill Cemetery.

The town shows what life was really like in the American West, from simple log cabins to fancy Victorian houses. About 150,000 people visit each year to see these real buildings from the 1800s.

Walk Down a Wild West Main Street

Walk down Main Street on wooden boardwalks past original 1860s buildings.

Stop at Montana’s oldest bar, the Bale of Hay Saloon, or check out the first bakery in town, now a museum with old baking tools.

Don’t miss the 1876 firehouse, where you can see antique fire trucks!

Watch a Show at the Original Opera House

Since 1948, the Virginia City Players have brought Wild West stories to life at the Opera House, which started as an old horse stable.

The group began with a short play called Clem, the Miner’s Daughter for a miners’ convention, using a simple stage in the Bale of Hay Saloon. Today, they perform funny vaudeville acts and dramas like The Wizard of Oz or spooky tales like The Wolfman of the West.

The theater still has its original gaslights and tin ceiling from the 1800s, plus curtains and seats added by Charles Bovey in the 1950s to make it look authentic.

Try Panning for Gold

At Virginia City, you can try your luck finding gold in Alder Gulch, where miners struck $30 million in gold by 1866.

Guides will teach you 1860s techniques like using sluice boxes or hydraulic water cannons to blast dirt from hillsides. For $10, you can sift a bucket of gravel at Red Rock Mine to find garnets (sparkly red gems) or even rare blue corundum crystals.

The mine sells buckets from old dredge piles, the equipment that once chewed up the landscape searching for gold.

Alder Gulch Railroad Rides

Hop on a historic train pulled by a 1910 steam engine (weekends) or a gas-powered locomotive (weekdays) for a 2.5-mile ride to ghost town Nevada City.

The tracks were rebuilt in 1964 using rails from abandoned Montana mines. As you chug past rusted mining equipment and giant dredge ponds, you can listen to guides share stories about vigilantes who once patrolled these hills.

Don’t miss the restored 1860s stationmaster’s office at Nevada City’s depot, where you can see old telegraph machines.

Check Out Vigilante Artifacts

See real ropes used to hang outlaws at the Thompson-Hickman Museum, along with Sheriff Plummer’s tiny pistol.

In nearby Nevada City, explore over 100 relocated buildings, like a Chinese laundry and a schoolhouse. The Bovey family filled these spots with quirky treasures, including 1800s gambling machines and a massive Gavioli organ that plays punch-card music rolls.

At the Madison County Courthouse, check out handwritten documents from Montana’s early government days.

Go on Ghost Tours

Join nighttime tours to hear spooky tales, like the ghost of Jack Slade, a vigilante victim said to haunt Nevada City’s trails.

The Fairweather Inn, built in 1863, is famous for sightings of a woman in Victorian-era clothes. Brave visitors can explore the Hangman’s Building, where voices of executed prisoners echo in empty cells, or the Chollar Mine, featured on TV’s Ghost Adventures for its creepy vibes.