by Terry Lidral
The ghost town of Ragtown, Idaho can be found about 60 miles south of Salmon which is located in east central Idaho on the Montana border. It was established as an outskirt colony of boomtown Gilmore around 1882 shortly after lead and silver were discovered in nearby Leadore.
Gilmore became an established town with a number of fine homes and stores and a peak population of 600 residents. Itinerant miners and their families put up makeshift dwellings on a timbered bench (strip of long, narrow, level land) on the west edge of Gilmore that was given the official title of Ragtown. The name was befitting of the crude shelters the itinerants built to live in in the area also referred to as “Tent Town.” Predominantly, the settlement was filled with platform tents and small cobbled sheds made of scrap material. There were several permanent log cabin structures also built on the timber bench west of Gilmore.
For pictures and a history of Gilmore, click here: https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/id/gilmore.html
The central Idaho weather was harsh, especially for those living in the Ragtown shelters. It is said that the name Ragtown came from the rags and other material stuffed into the holes, cracks and crevices of the itinerants’ dwellings as insulation in an attempt to keep out the intense cold of the climate.
In 1927, Gilmore was devastated by an explosion and fire at the power plant that powered its mining operations. That, coupled with the Great Depression, led to Gilmore’s complete demise in the early 1930’s.
Gilmore had a large power plant used to power the mining operations. The plant exploded in 1927, igniting a large fire. The damage was catastrophic and a majority of the residents left town shortly after the explosion. By 1930, mining was done and the town, along with its surrounding settlement of Ragtown, was mainly deserted.
Today, much of Gilmore and Ragtown sit on BLM land. Eight original log frame structures remain that were stabilized by an official work project in 2010.
Gilmore can be accessed today by a short gravel road 65 miles south of Salmon, Idaho.
Read about Ghost Town Chloride, New Mexico here: https://westernlivingjournal.com/chloride-new-mexico-ghost-town-with-a-heartbeat/
