Bannack City

Chris has only been working his new job for a couple of months so we didn't feel like taking off a bunch of time for Spring Break would be a good idea.  We decided to follow him around for most of Spring Break.

Chris covers most of Montana, Wyoming, and some of Idaho.  On the first couple of days we travelled with him into Montana and one of the stops I insisted we make was at Bannack City.

I've wanted to visit Bannack City for a long time but knew that I wouldn't be able to interest anyone in going with me on a day trip.  This was a perfect opportunity because we were ultimately going to a location the kids wanted to go and this happened to be on the way.

Bannack City is a ghost town in Montana that was deserted after the gold rush ended. Unfortunately we had to cut our visit short because Chris had a conference call and we were in a dead zone.  If I had more time I would have read the story of each home and business because the history was so cool.

 The boys and I explored a bunch of the old houses.  They were all so small and most of them were in really poor condition.  You could see remnants of wall paper, carpets, and some had a few old pieces of furniture.

 The whole city had the board sidewalks. 

 This was one of the store fronts.

 This was the front of the hotel. 

 The Staircase at the hotel. 

 The stove in the hotel. 

 The side of the hotel

 The church

The boys running out of the church when I asked them to go to the front and give a talk:)

 The only play toy in town.  The boys couldn't believe this was all the kids had.  It was a good moment for them to realize how fortunate they are. 

 The Schoolhouse.

 This building is the outside of the school house.  Upstairs is where the Masons held their meetings.  They've completed redone the upstairs with the alter replicating how a mason room would be but they've sealed it off and we were only able to look through thick plastic doors.  It was too difficult to get a good picture but it was really neat and interesting.

 By the Jail. 

 Jaden in Jail....totally fitting:)

 Walking down the street exploring everything.

Some of the old houses.

I loved exploring this town and my family did too....I was surprised.  I would love to visit again and take longer to explore the history.  They had a cemetery that we didn't get to visit that I'd love to see again.

They've made this into a State Park and if you are a camper, they have a campground right outside the city.  I kept teasing my kids that if we saw anyone, that it was just a ghost:)