Virginia City
Posted by: 
Biker Ozzy
N 45° 17.649 W 111° 56.522
12T E 426134 N 5016059
Marker for a old Montana Town
Waymark Code: WMAVDC
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 02/27/2011
Views: 7
Marker reads as follows
Virginia City
Prospectors found placer gold along a streambed chocked with alder trees in May, 1863. Thousands came from every corner of the world to try thier luck in the placer mines and, perhaps, to garner a piece of the far famed treasure. A brief but turbulent period of lawlessness and vigilante justice ended with the creation of Montana Territory in 1864. Virginia City quickly rose to be territorial capital (1865 ~ 1875), but the glory faded when placer gold played out and the people moved on.
Bypassed on the railroad route, Virginia City struggled. Gold dredging operations from the 1890's to the 1940's saved the townfrom abandonment. Then, Charles and Sue Bovey began buying the dilapidated gold~rush era buildings in the 1940's. Virginia City became one of the first preservation efforts in the West and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. The gold Rush~ear false~fronts and territorial~period landmarks reflect the optimism of Virginia City's early residents, providing a unique window to the past.
Describe the area and history:
There are a lot of old preserved buildings.
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