Granite: Mining History and Culture

Granite brings together the history of a silver boomtown with museums, theater, art, and activities related to sapphires and confectionery. Events also give the travel year its own rhythm. If you’re looking for a hotel in Granite, you can first consider whether historic sites, a particular activity, or an event date should be the focus of your stay. The following topics offer some specific ideas.

Mining History and Historic Sites

Granite Ghost Town State Park showcases the remains of a once-thriving silver boomtown from the 1890s. The preserved site includes the Granite Mine superintendent’s house. Together, the town’s remains and the residence illustrate two different aspects of the former mining town: the development of the boomtown and a surviving building associated with the mine.

The Granite County Museum & Cultural Center is located in the historic Courtney Hotel on South Sansome Street. The museum’s Ghost Town Hall of Fame tells the story of Montana’s ghost towns through photographs. The Granite Mountain Mining exhibit also includes an underground tour through a section of a mine.

In Philipsburg, the Chamber of Commerce offers a tour of historic buildings in the National Historic District. Another landmark in local history is the Philipsburg Theatre: founded in 1891, it is the oldest continuously operating theater in the state of Montana. It shows movies on the big screen quarterly. The Philipsburg Brewing Company is also housed in a historic building: the former bank building was constructed in 1888.

Art, Sapphires, and Confectionery

Illume Gallery West features Western American art, including original oil paintings, bronze sculptures, wildlife art, landscapes, still lifes, and contemporary works of the West. Special exhibitions and artist presentations are also held regularly. If you’re interested in different forms of artistic expression, the range spans painting and sculpture to changing presentations.

At Sapphire Gallery, Inc., visitors can mine for sapphires indoors. The comfortable mining room is suitable for all ages. The experience differs markedly from watching candy being made at the Sweet Palace: there, you can see saltwater taffy being pulled and wrapped. You can also watch marshmallows, caramels, toffees, and brittle being made in the candy kitchen known as the Copper Cauldron.

The Sweet Palace carries 72 varieties of saltwater taffy and more than 1,000 types of candy, including fine hand-dipped chocolates. A visit therefore brings together two distinct aspects: watching the candy being made and browsing a wide selection of sweets.

Landscape and Trip Planning

Rock Creek flows through Granite County between the Sapphire Mountains to the west and the John Long Mountains to the east. This geographic orientation complements the historical themes with a glimpse of the region’s landscape.

Philipsburg is 30 miles south of I-90 on Montana Highway 1, the Pintler Scenic Loop, and roughly halfway between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Its approximate location between the two national parks is a regional point of reference; the road information applies to Philipsburg.

The Flint Creek Valley Days Parade returns to Philipsburg each July, celebrating the region’s mining, lumber, and ranching heritage. Specific dates may vary from year to year. If you’d like to include a movie screening or the parade in your trip plans, check the dates in advance. That way, you can plan your travel dates around the events and the visits that interest you.

Explore places: Philipsburg, Drummond.

Explore more destinations: Sheridan County, Powell County, Lincoln County, Custer County, Sanders, Sweet Grass.

Return to the main travel overview: Montana.