Leesburg, Idaho

Leesburg is an unincorporated community in Lemhi County, Idaho, United States. It lies at 45°13′26″N 114°6′50″W (45.2238080, -114.1139647),[2] along Napias Creek in the Salmon National Forest, west of Salmon.[1] Its altitude is 6,653 feet (2,028 m).[2] The community possessed a post office as late as 1942, but it has since closed.[3] Little remains of the original community.[4] The entire site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.[1]

Leesburg
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Leesburg's old school
Show map of Idaho Show map of the United States
Location	Lemhi County, Idaho
Nearest city	Salmon, Idaho
Coordinates	45°13′26″N 114°6′50″W
Architectural style	Rocky Mountain
NRHP reference No.	75000634[1]
Added to NRHP	April 4, 1975

History

Leesburg was established after gold was discovered at the Leesburg Mine on July 16, 1866. The mining town was named for General Robert E. Lee because most of the settlers were Southerners.[5] It once had a population of 7,000, including Chinese; 100 business firms; and a main street a mile long. Miners dug over 400 miles of ditches to carry water to sluice out gold. By 1930 placer mining was carried on nearly entirely by hydraulic methods. The mine produced nearly $16,000,000 in gold prior to 1938.[6]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Leesburg, Idaho
3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Leesburg Post Office
4. Rees, John E. (1918). Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography. W.B. Conkey Company. p. 86.
5. http://www.ktvb.com/amp//news/local/legacy-of-the-civil-war-in-idaho/464654495
6. • Fisher, Vardis; Federal Writers' Project (1938). "Section II Historical Ghost Towns". Idaho Encyclopedia. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, Ltd. pp. 98–114. OCLC 962624.

Further reading