Walk back in history by visiting Rimini Ghost Town. Located in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Rimini is a reminder of the mining activities that bloomed back in the 1800s.
This Montana ghost town dates back to 1864, when John Caplice discovered silver lodes in the Lee Mountain. Soon after, local mines flocked it, making Rimini a bustling mining district in Montana.
Other ores such as gold, copper, zinc, and lead were later discovered in Lee and Red mountains.
History of Rimini, Montana
Originally referred to as Young Ireland, Rimini later got named after Francesca da Rimini, a character in Dante’s Inferno opera that was quite popular then.
Although the mining business continued, transporting the ore wasn’t easy, so Rimini never bloomed until 1885. It happened after a northern pacific railroad reached the town.
New mines developed during this time, including Lady Washington, East Pacific, and Eureka, among the most productive ones.
During the peak of silver ore mining in 1890, Rimini was home to over 300 permanent residents. Several businesses thrived in the area, including saloons, a school, a church, gambling houses, a stable, and several boarding houses.
By 1891, Rimini was shipping approximately 400 tons of silver ore to the smelter at Wickens per week. However, this boom didn’t last long following low silver prices and the Repeal of the Sherman Act that happened in 1893.
With the low returns, only the Porphyry Dike Mine was functional in 1989. Other mines had shut down.
Rimini continued to die slowly, becoming a ghost town by 1920, with only 20 permanent residents in the district.
Even the Porphyry Dike Mine that was still active shut its doors in 1926 after a lawsuit about its mill tailings polluting Helena’s main water supply.
Today, Rimini is an open-air ghost town with only a few permanent residents. Old structures still survive, some of which have been preserved.
