Hecla, Montana

Hecla was a town in Beaverhead County, Montana. It has been designated as a ghost town with only a few ruined buildings remaining. It was notable at one time as the home of Blanche Lamont, who taught at Hecla's one-room schoolhouse.[1] Lamont would become the first of two murder victims of Theodore Durrant. Margaret Brown also lived there for a time.[2]

Blanche Lamont with her students, Hecla, Montana, 1893

The Hecla Mining District was "on the side of Lion Mountain. Also referred to as the Glendale and/or Bryant Mining District, which was strung out along ten miles of gulches, the four towns included Trapper City, Lion City, Glendale, and Hecla."[3]

In 1881, the Hecla Company reorganized and came under the direction of Henry Knippenberg. Shortly after he assumed control, Knippenberg had the town of Hecla built a mile away from Lion City ... Transportation from the mine was improved with the construction of a four mile-long, narrow-gauge tramway from Hecla to the mill.

The town of Hecla grew to some 1,500 to 1,800 persons, with a water works system, fire protection, a church, a school for 200 pupils, and other businesses typical of a small mining camp.[4]

The General Merchandise operations in Hecla, run by H.W. Kappes, were "absorbed by the Hecla Mercantile & Banking Company in 1886. The Hecla Mercantile was a subsidiary of the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company based out of Glendale, Montana."[5]

The area "was hard hit when the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893."[3][6]

"The district can be reached from I-15 near Melrose at Exit 93 on Trapper Creek Road. Glendale is about five miles and Lion City and Hecla, another 7 miles or so. A four wheel drive or ATV is recommended."[3]

Notes
  1. "Miss Blanche Lamont with her school at Hecla, Montana, Oct. 1893". 1893. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  2. "Hecla - Montana Ghost Town". ghosttowns.com. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  3. "Hecla Mining District in the Pioneer Mountains of Montana". Legends of America: Montana Legends. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  4. "Montana Abandoned Mine Lands - Historic Context - aka Hecla - aka Glendale". Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Archived from the original on 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  5. Joseph Keppler, Hecla Mercantile & Banking Company Ephemera Archived 2013-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, Hecla, Montana Territory 1886
  6. "The Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, Historical Note" (PDF), glendalemt.com, retrieved 2013-12-01



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