Northern Montana - Ghost Towns & Abandoned Places
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- Abandoned towns, motels, gas stations, Churches, grain elevators, banks, stores, schools and a whole bunch more at 19 different locations in northern Montana. Shot in August 2023. #montana #abandoned #ghosttown
Milk River Church - Take 449 north from Gidford, MT then turn east on country rd 80
48.67877, -110.22589
One Room School
48.56724, -109.90915
00:00 Introduction
00:17 Kevin, MT
01:18 Devon, MT
02:15 Galata, MT
03:09 Joplin, MT
04:25 Inverness
05:04 Rudyard, MT
06:06 Hingham, MT
06:55 Milk River Valley Church
08:00 One Room School
08:36 Zurich, MT
09:28 Harlem, MT
10:23 Hogeland, MT
11:15 Turner, MT
11:54 Sacred Heart Church
12:22 Savoy, MT
12:56 Dodson, MT
14:14 Zortman, MT
15:18 Saco, MT
16:08 Vandalia, MT
16:57 Tampico, MT
17:56 St. Marie, MT
It's very sad that we've done this to our country. We've sold out our manufacturing and allowed the rich and the powerful to destroy our country. I hope someday these are we populated towns with families of loving, hardworking people
Remarkable video!
I grew up on a wheat farm just south of Joplin, MT, with many hours on tractors and combines. I left in 1956 to college, then military academy, 21 years as Army officer, 24 years as CPA, I’m now 85.
The farm is still active as my brother has been on that farm since he graduated from college, with some 60 years of surviving northern MT winters. He and his wife are 82, tough people, 60 some years of marriage, raised a family and sent them off to college and med school.
I have not been back since my mother’s funeral and the untimely death and funeral of my brother’s only son, a US Naval officer. I was saddened to see that the towns are as dead as they appear to be.
The video certainly raises some memories, I attended grade school in Joplin and Inverness and two years of High School in Hingham and graduated from Shelby High in 1956. My father was a school superintendent, hired to assist local school boards in their struggles to save their schools in those three hi-line towns, Joplin, Inverness, Hingham; he was obviously also a wheat farmer on the farm where I grew up, holding two very time consuming and demanding jobs with the help of his family.
A word about the farms in that area: as I said, my brother’s farm is active as are other farms in that area but it is a struggle. Costs and expenses are without limit, fertilizer, fuel, machinery, etc. The price of wheat has fluctuated with the geopolitical crises abroad and the political games being played here in the US. The farmer seems to be the last person the politicians think about in their games.
Thanks for the video, Chris, and the memories! I hope this has not been too long but I wanted to give a touch of flavor for the towns on the hi-line from someone who grew up there. I welcome comments or questions.
Thank you so much for your reply, as you said, it brings back memories of some old places and people we used to know,,,
Your generation is the best.
Thank you for your service.
Greetings from Europe.
@@hawwaadam2308 👍
@@TheTryingDutchman 👍
Thank you for sharing and thanks for watching!
America is fascinating country that I love so much I'm from Brazil but my soul tells me I did belong there I can't explain how much I love this country God bless the USA ❤❤❤ from Rio Brazil
God bless Brazil from Ohio, USA
Cheers right back to you 🍻 from Minnesota, USA
God bless Brazil from Indiana USA❤
Unfortunately it’s safer in Brazil than here in American…
It is striking to see the contrast of these old, largely abandoned towns under the shadow of a passing train full of Amazon Connex boxes. How the world has changed. In many ways we have forgotten middle America and small businesses, and instead supported massive corporations like Amazon due to convenience. The abandoned homes also stood out to me. What stories could those walls tell, what memories were made there? It is sad in some ways.
What a fascinating look at this part of the country, thank you for sharing! I have long had a deep appreciation for Ghost Towns and rural American towns.
😢😢😢
Small businesses became too expensive. Can't afford them.
Ot
It is sad, you are right,, one day, there where people living there,, today, they are all gone, some were little, grow up and moved somewhere, others simply passed away. It’s sad, but this is life, I hope God forgive all our sins when we stand in front of him
It is indeed very sad ... people often think that if you could jump to the future we would all be impressed... but try telling that to the people who's sweat and tears built those towns .. if they could only see them now.
Northern Montana is truly a treasure. Sad to see some of this. Nothing like the big sky great plains. Nothing compares
Couldn't agree more!
One of the most beautiful places on this planet
I was born in Circle Montana in the early 80s, this video really captures the essence of these forgotten prairie towns. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Why are the folks leaving?
@@sailingaeolusNo business, so urbanization can no longer be supported. Businesses that remain have higher costs to operate, and less of a margin. The cycle continues as more and larger businesses, like FedEx, become the only ways to reach them. Then, only ranchers and farmers remain. Then perhaps just ranchers.
Greetings from your home town. Perhaps you already know that the old Gladstone Hotel (1912) on Avenue B (Main Street) was brought down by controlled fire a month ago. For many, many years it was the the place to be.
I have many solid recollections of Circle as we headed west across what could be considered as the moon with prong horns.
I am 68 and I have lived in Alabama every since I was 8 , but I was born in Billings Montana than my family moved to Great Falls Montana . My dad used to take me and my brother and sister( who are 7 and 9 nine years older than me) to Ghost Towns on the weekends . Even though I was very young I remember one in particular which had boarded sidewalks and it looked as though the people just got up and left , we went into a old saloon and there empty whiskey bottles still on the bar , and poker chips on the table ; it was like something out of the movies . Don't ask me where I have No idea , I was like 4 or 5 .
Oh yes that amazing mountain ghost towns! I am hoping to make it this fall!
Thank you. I grew up in Dodson and Zortman. I loved the “big” dance floor in Jerry Johnson’s bar in Zortman. I attended 3 different one room school houses: Ruby Gulch, Zortman and Brookside.
Thank you, again. 😢
Zortman is amazing!!
When you are unable to travel these videos are the next best thing. Thank you for sharing😃
Thank you!
I am 90 USAF- was stationed at 778 AC&W SQ Havre Montana - Most of the towns at this time were Open and Busy Sad - Such Is Life
I agree. Must have been nice to live in them in the 50's
I love to hear the stories you tells during holidays.
Thank you for your service
😢это все очень грустно. А мировое правительство говорит нам о перенаселении Земли! 😮 В России и Казахстане тоже много заброшенных городков, поселков, деревень. 😢а людям негде жить, люди снимают жилье или берут дорогую ипотеку! Население Земли намеренно сгоняют в мегаполисы! 😢
I remember Havre, my father was stationed in Glasgow AFB years ago. I have good memories of Montana.
I have lived in Montana for most of my life and love it. My grandparents lived in a gost town called St Marie by Glasgow, it was an old military air base you should check it out.
He did :) last town in the video and he has a full video dedicated to it.
The charm and history of these small towns on the prairies just are so cool to see. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it
Not much charm
The landscape is desolate and the wind and weather is brutal.
Well, yes, Montana is not for the faint of heart. Many of the homesteaders went insane and sold their holdings after a couple of years. The pioneers arrived during the good years, when there was plenty of rain and winters were mild. But there were some very bad winters in 1883, 1919, 1936, 1954, 1966 etc. Many people lost their herds because the snow and ice prevented the animals from finding their food. (The wildlife too die horribly in those conditions.) So the ghost towns were built in the better years, and abandoned in the bad ones.
I was born in the Canary Islands and moved to Texas, with my Texan wife, in 1970, where I have lived for 54 years with occasional visits to Spain.
That Montana area must be like an icy inferno, where they are not going to cach me living in one of their cozy chalets.
My mom taught school for a year in Saco in 1938-39 as new minted college grad (MSU). Really cool to see it and think of my 24 yo Mom living there. They had terrible floods from ice floes that year!
In 38, college grads were very rare!
Abandoned buildings, endless plain and yellow grass, sun and blue sky, a very impressive scene. I would love to see it all live. In America, even abandoned places can look attractive.
BRING BACK THE BUFFALO.
And the indians!☠👾👹😭
I wrote below age- 90, 1956 Havre Air Force- NEVER Expected So Many Replies to Your Video! All You Folks - We are in a special Club - God Bless Us All!
Really appreciate you showing the small older towns we used to service them in the 60s we serviced all of Montana as far as oil furnaces
My pleasure!!
I grew up in Montana. Most of my family is in Helena now. My my mom is in Missoula. I love seeing your videos, it brings me back.
Thanks for watching!
Missoula is beatuful❤
I'm a former Montanan. My college girlfriend at UM was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, and her mother, whose family pioneered on the high line, didn't see a tree until she was ten. The Great Plains have always fascinated me (I lived in Missoula, however).
"college girlfriend at UM " culture of "girlfriends" and "exes".😂
I take Amtrak between Portland and Chicago fairly often and fell in love with Northern Montana. Sometimes I fly to Great Falls, rent a car to explore and always spend some time up on the hi-line area, Hwy 2. The first time I looked at my car rental agreement I couldn’t believe it said the car could not be driven on gravel roads haha…you simply can’t drive in Montana without being on at least a few unpaved roads. I always cross that part off and take full coverage. 🤷🏻♀️
Thanks for sharing!
Think I haven't seen some of these towns, since I was a kid, in the 70s. Used to fish up there. Sad to see them abandoned. Good memories! 🌿💙
Good old Montana!!! Proud to be born there, can’t say I miss the winters!
I have to say that it is absolutely amazing to see you go through this area of Montana because that is where I am from. Especially later in the video when you are going through places like Harlem, Saco, Dodson, and Zortman because those are all places that I have spent a large part of my life around and I love being able to recognize them in the video. I have a connection to each of those places in some way and I am glad that you were able to an area of Montana that I love and enjoy it in your own way.
Wow, thank you!
I'm way down in NM and I'm on the old side so I probably won't ever get back to Montana. I used to backpack in Montana and Canada a lot. Love the area. Thanks for sharing. I just love these old towns and buildings.
Thanks for watching!
I love that you did a video on the high line. Sad to see it so far gone from even 20+ years ago. I grew up in Geraldine, MT population 280. But you are right when you say the people are friendly and they love to tell stories!
Thank you for sharing this with us. My dad was in the Air Force, and we were stationed at Malstrom Air Force Base in the 60's. We left when i was 6 in 1970. Both my parents and I loved Montana. My dad was an avid outdoorsman and hunted and fished all over Montana. He loved it there. We lost him 3 years ago 😢. Thank you again for sharing this and bringing such joyful, loving memories of my dad for me.
Wow amazing! ANd thanks for watching!
@@attrellMy dad was also in the Air Force, stationed at Malstrom . That was in the 60s also. I was 16.
So kind to vintage photographers.
Having traveled through Montana in the winter many times these places can be COLD and depressing places in the winter.
Exactly! Bingo!
Maybe close to paradise in the short 2 or 3 month summer, then 9 months of brutal cold winter hell, with unrelenting wind!
Montana and Vermont are just breathtaking.
Yup?
Big sky country. Love to all the lovely folk in Montana.
Really cool video of Northern Montana ghost towns. 🙌🙌👏👏Thanks for sharing your travels Chris.😊😊
Thank you!
Good old Montana! Simply an amazing video! Thank you 👌
Thank you too!
Thanks very much Chris. I really enjoyed this video.
Seeing them makes one imagine what the people and their kids
are doing these days. If the kids (even when older) ever go back and
dream about the "good old days." Out in rural Montana, rural America.
Thank you!
I Love that frame starting at 15:45 with the shot of that old derelict service station and then Bam!! your snapped back into reality when that Amazon Prime cars go wizzing by, clash between to worlds and a sign of the times. Thanks for sharing!
Good eye! I didn't even notice that.
Many thanks Chris for bringing us another fantastic trip through Montana, I really enjoyed this journey through your camera... The whole place would be a great photo shoot though the night' with all those old trucks, cars, grain elevators and retro garages, fuel pumps....WOW.....WOW....WOW....Best 73s tyou and your family Chris.... From the uk.... Take care out and about.... 😊❤
Thanks! i hope to do a night trip in this area!
Galata is a Genoese tower in Constantinople (Modern-day Istanbul), and Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. I visited both in 1997 and 2017.
Thanks for posting this. It brought back a lot of memories. I used to play little league games in Rudyard and Joplin as a kid. Born in Havre, grew up in Big Sandy. It's bittersweet to see these towns today.
Thanks for watching!
Drank beer in the Cowboy bar. And the Old Brand Saloon in Saco was a great watering hole. Loved driving the Highline( hwy2).
Rudyard, MT used to have signs on various highways pointing towards the town with a big arrow. Underneath it said: Rudyard, MT 296 nice people and one old sore head.
Ha ha that town is great!
i live in north Dakota, looks like every town we have here ,i assumed every town or city has a grain elevator. its usually population 150 or so ,1 gas staion ,grain elevators ,a post office and 3 bars .
Very simular yes. When I was a kid in SIdney, we used to drive all over NE North Dakota. Looks the same as the high line in MT.
😂 we had a blacksmith too
Thank you for touring us to Montana. Those are such a beautiful towns. If only those abandoned structures could talk and tell stories.
Thanks for watching!
That was so awesome! I love vintage stuff and old buildings. Thank you for sharing this.
Amazing. You have soooo much SPACE. I'm envious.
Found memories of these towns in the '50s and '60s.
I lived in Chester, MT in the late 80s and my boss lived in Joplin. Its amazing how much these towns have declined since then.
Excellent walking tour info., Sir.
Your good narrative pace is very helpful for us as foreign listeners.
I only passed through one part of MT on Amtrak ride in 1993 and I still don't know much about MT to present day.
Now, I like to learn more about MT and this touring clip helps me visualize on what I could't get there in person via public transportation.
Glad it was helpful!
Keths, there is NO public transportation in those areas.
Really enjoyed the tour you put together of remote towns with few people and some with no one living there. As one Lady stated below each town has many stories of Families that lived there. Ghost Towns is a good description and one would get a feeling of loneliness and emptiness when you drive through. I live in Western Washington with several million people and crowded conditions everywhere. To drive through Northern Montana on roads that you would see 10 cars on a busy day would be a culture shock that would take some getting used to. One would have to drive for miles to Grocery Stores and small towns large enough to support nice Restaurants, Parks, Schools and maybe places of entertainment. No Industry or manufacturing to support any size population. When the Airforce Base closed down that would have been a huge loss for a large area of that remote part of Montana.
Thanks for sharing!
My husband is from Livingston, Montana.
We haven't been to the areas in your video. It would be a fun trip to see those towns.
The hi line is pretty neat!
Can you imagine how cold it is there during the winter months?
Yes especially with the endless winds
It gets so cold there, you don't have to convert the temperature for your Canadian friends because the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius is minimal
I wish I could go back in time and visit all the old little towns across America, to see what they were like in their heyday! America has lost so much of itself (its soul) over the past 75 years.
I blame corporate greed for killing small businesses that were the backbone of these communities 😢 as well as sending American manufacturing jobs to overseas labor which is cheaper for these big companies. Things used to be made in America by hard working Americans who were paid well and they took pride in their work 👏 👍 I believe this is what may have killed small town America 😢
@@johnbailey9408 And the big collapse of the family unit
@@johnbailey9408 And the big collapse of the family unit
I'm always amazed at how clean these towns are, very little evidence of dumping unlike some of our big cities! Just watching these videos gives me a sense of melancholy! ♥️
The American countryside is full of places like this.
Little gems frozen in time...
Another fascinating video. Had a Aunt and Uncle who lived in Havre, back in the 1930's!! Thanks Chris!
Glad you enjoyed it
3 yrs ago today I drove Rt2 and saw most of these towns. Incredible to see
I sitll haven't been to mountain part since 1982
I lived in Inverness for 3 years. My husband taught 5 and 6 grade for 3 years. The school was the center of activity.
Interesting! I was born and raised in Montana and traveled all over the state, except the northern part east of Browning. I have lived in the Philippines for over 8 years and may come back to Libby for a visit next year. I have been thinking about making a road trip on highway 2 all the way east across the state if I do come back, through some of these towns. I loved your video, thank you.
Thanks for sharing!
Very interesting. I followed your journey on Google maps just to see where all these places were. I grew up in Manitoba and am very familiar with this type of scenery. Spent the pandemic exploring some of the abandoned towns in central Ontario, and really enjoy the peacefulness. Some of those Montana locations would be excellent for HDR photography. Hope to visit one day.
Yes they would! Hope you get to visit!
Used to love traveling the Hi-line when visiting family in Alberta. We've had lunch at the Inverness Bar & Supper Club (very nice owners!), and I got a tour of the old theater in Rudyard. It's been in the same family since it opened in the 1940s, and still has its original popcorn machine.
Thanks for sharing!
You had to put it at the very end, didn't you? lol My dad was stationed to Glasgow, AFB, Montana. I was about 2.5 years old to about 4.5 years old, the youngest of four, when we lived there. My brother remembers this place better than the rest of us as he was the oldest, and we have two sisters between us in age.
From Montana, however, our family made life-long friends. One of those families lived in the town where my Dad's last assignment was, which was my favorite base as it is one of the most beautiful. No, NOT Glasgow, but Barksdale AFB.
Glasgow holds some tragic memories for me, and even after all these decades, some of it is still painful to remember. I had to delete what I was typing because I was having a difficult time with those memories. That surprises me as it was so long ago. My Dad is now 92, and I just turned 60. My brother and sisters went back to Glasgow to visit a few years back, but I have no interest in going there. I don't have enough good memories to bring me back here.
Glasgow is also the name of the city my paternal Grandmother is from. Glasgow, Scotland. Every base we lived on, my parents flew my Dad's parents out to visit, and they did visit here too.
Glasgow AFB, Montana, was a "cold war-era" base, which means it was built quickly and not necessarily intended to live beyond the cold war. It could have gone on longer and the base would have grown, but, like several other cold-war bases along the northern border with Canada, these bases were strategically placed to respond to a Soviet attack. Once the Soviet Union fell, these bases became obsolete. Another base I live on met the same fate as Glasgow, and that would be K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan. All of these bases had B-52s and nuclear weapons.
THanks for posting. I am sorry the place holds so many bad memories. I made a video on here of that base.
That was very interesting to see some old buildings in the USA ..I'm from Australia..thank you so much for sharing have. A great day ..
Thanks for visiting
Geweldig Mooi, prachtige beelden vooral die kleine kerken in open veld, met de prachtige wolken hemel met een beetje zon...
That little church reminds me of the same one in Warsaw Montana. It was a one room school house.
I Remember Highway 2 crossing MT In the late 70's hauling Grain In an 18 Wheeler Flatbed to West Coast, Either Miles & Miles Of Prairie Or Nasty Mountains & Plenty Of Little Towns. People Driving On The open roads would friendly Wave Which was Down To earth Nice different than city busy peoples. Presumably Then Many of These vacant Buildings in this vid were Used & Busy . truck Driving Was Hurry Up & get there With out Slow Sight seeing.............. Good vid.
Thank you!
15:45 seeing all those Amazon containers flying through these old Midwest towns gave me irony chills
I love old abandoned towns , i never been to Montana but it's a state that I would love see and live there ,the town of Zortman OMG I fell in love with that's my dream town . Thank you so much for posting this video I loved it!!!
YOu'll love Zortman. The entire little rocky mountain range is quirky cool.
Awesome video. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I am from Vermont,i grew up a a farm in the mountains. i love small towns and history.i have never been to Montana. So beatiful . Love the open land golden grass and beautiful open blue sky. Thank you for share this with us all.
Thanks for sharing
My father was born in Galata & I grew up in Cut Bank. We moved to California in the late 1950's for work. Still miss the small town life.
At least the winters are better down there :)
Thanks Chris. I feel a road trip coming on :-)
Especially the Church! Perfect spot for night shots.
This is a fantastic video, really. It has a Stephen King feel/vibe. The narrative is also so cool and smooth. Good job ! Greetings from Greece :-)
Greetings from S.E. Pa. I travel to Greece often , so much beauty, and old world history. Though my handicap has kept me from going so far, except as a You tube traveler. Still fun !
I really enjoyed your video! Thanks for posting
My grandparents had a farm near Hingham...my grandmother went to high school in the school shown in this video...my father spent his summers growing up there...
Grew up in Harlem in the 50's & 60's. Used to be a cool little town till they put in the bypass. So many stories!
Good video...Havre 1958,... also birth place of Big Bud.
I think those tractors could pull Canada if you could find a place to hitch it to.
Excellent video Chris. A great peep into backwater USA. Thanks a lot, Colin UK
Many thanks!
Thank you. Never been to Montana and, unfortunately, never will. Glad to look at this part of my country and a bit of history to remember.
Just south of Galata on the other side of the reservoir is the old Montana Safeguard Complex. It’s a big Cold War bunker from a radar facility, pretty neat though.
WOw really? I must check that out. Thankyou!
I remember visiting the site doing survey work in Liberty county in the 80s. It was surreal.
The book ‘’Bad Land: An American Romance’ by Jonathan Raban, tells the story of eastern Montana homesteaders trying to make a go of in the early twentieth century. Great read
Thanks! I'll see if library has it
Awesome video 📹 thanks man.
Thank you!
Wow! I love videos like this! Glad this showed up on my feed.😁#subscribed
Haver Mt. Used to have brutal winters!
Still does
I grew up just south of shelby and have not lived there in years but it is sad to see what time has done to montana. 😢😢😢
Just found your channel and subscribed. Love seeing Ghost towns and this was great! Thx!
Awesome! Thank you!
It's so exciting watching old buildings fall down.
Kevin is pronounced ... Keev-in... My dad lives there ..I was born in Shelby in 1980 ... The high line is not what it used to be ...
When I was a child my mom would drive from the west coast along highway 2 and then up into Saskatchewan through Bengough and up highway 334. Quite different now compared to then.
Indeed! Even on the Saskatchewan side!
Great Beautiful, beautiful images especially those small churches in an open field, with the beautiful cloudy sky with a little sun ...
Glad you enjoyed it
These places are so fascinating and painful at the same time. Those abandoned buildings were once the center piece of someone's life. Entire families actually. The older I get the sadder these places are to me. The sense of national loss I feel when seeing such places is huge.
It's so sad to look at it. Once there was a lot of life here, small children ran around, young people made plans...
Agreed!
I liked seeing these more modern (compared to 1850-1940) ghost towns.
I liked the farming buildings. My winters in Northern California near Mt. Shasta are benign compared to Montana!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks.. I really love watching such.. probably would never visit Montana.. but love watching it here.. keep it up guy..❤
Thank you!
This is a great video. I drove through there in the mid 70's mom and me going to Seattle. Thanks for sharing.
Lived in Montana all my life but sure haven't heard of some of those ghost towns especially along the hi line.
THanks for watching!
Cool video Chris. Nice to see the footage of such locations just a little south for those of us north of the border.
Glad you enjoyed it
Drove Hwy 2 a couple of times in the past as a truck driver. It's a nice ride and views. Thank you for the video
that was tremendous. Thank you for sharing that. Would love to see as many locals as possible interviewed about their history and lifestyle.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love that Milk River Church ❤️
Me too! Was amazing!
Beautiful old church. If they take care of the roof it will last another hundred years. The death of most old buildings is a leaky roof
As a historic building specialist, you are absolutely right. The main principle is to make any historic (or even modern) building weathertight, so windows, too. Wind and rain does a lot of damage.
Drove down from Alberta 20 years ago ,and we overnighted in Glasgoe,mt.we got a decent room,and slept well,not a sound all night,the place reminded me of towns in 1966,and had good discussions with the friendly local people,some places leave a big impression
thank you i live near havre and i love exploring abandoned buildings so thanks for letting me know of some . i know of most of these already but i still appreciate it thank you !!
Thank you!!!