DRUMMOND, Montana Community Information

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  Overview

  Photo courtesy: John Ansotegui

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  Entrance

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  Garnet Ghost Town

Drummond is on the Clark Fork River and was named for a trapper by this name who operated a line of traps in the territory and made his camp about where the railroad station now stands. The first camp at this site was established in 1871 and was called Edwardsville for John Edwards, a local rancher. It was renamed for Hugh Drummond in 1883; when the post office was established in 1884 the name was shortened from Drummond Camp to Drummond (Western Interpretive Services). (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)

Drummond is a working agricultural area located adjacent to I-90. The trip down the off-ramp takes you to a place where traditional values are present and you are immersed in a captivatingly authentic, western community. The traveler is permitted a glimpse of unadorned and unstaged life in a ranching region. The World Famous Bullshippers here are honest, hard working, and friendly. A typical excursion down Front Street could include ranchers discussing the weather, hay crops, or calving. You might even see cattle being driven to market, or there may be no traffic at all.

Drummond is the northern entrance to the Anaconda-Pintler Scenic Highway and some of the most beautiful and enchanting scenery anywhere. This route follows the Flint Creek from its effluent with the Clark Fork River, past the historic mining town of Philipsburg, up the majestic Flint Creek pass to it's source at the pristine Georgetown Lake. You continue along Montana Highway 1 to historic Anaconda. Here there are several activities from golfing in the summer at the Jack Nicklaus designed Old Works Golf Course to enjoying a winter cross-country or downhill skiing weekend at Discovery Basin Ski Area between Philipsburg and Anaconda. All of this at a stone's throw from Drummond.

The nearby attraction, Garnet, a historic mining ghost town located in west-central Montana, sits at an elevation of about 6,000 feet at the head of First Chance Creek. It was named after the brown garnet rock, which was used as an abrasive and a semi-precious stone found in the area. The town dates back to 1895. Garnet endures along with the spirits of the rugged gold miners and their families who carved a community in the heart of the Garnet Mountain Range at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1898, some 1,000 people knew Garnet as home. Garnet offers a wonderful ghost town experience without commercialization. The town never had a bonanza strike but still serves as one of Montana's most impressive ghost towns.

Elevation: 3,948 feet.