About Granite County


The county of Granite in the State of Montana was created on April 1, 1893 after House Bill No. 110 was passed by the Montana Legislature in March. The area was carved out of Deer Lodge County and a small sliver of eastern Missoula County. It was named for it's largest town, Granite, located 4 miles by road southeast of Philipsburg next to the famed Granite Mountain mine. This was the largest silver producer in the U.S and perhaps in the world in its heyday (and not to be confused with a well known copper mine in Butte of the same name).



The officers appointed to conduct the county business were:

John H. Cole as Sheriff
Arthur A Fairbairn as Treasurer
George A. Reck as Clerk and Recorder
William Albright as Assessor
Wingfield Brown as County Attorney
Josiah Shull as Clerk of District Court
Mrs Abbie W. Wilkinson as Superintendent of Schools
Dr. William Ray as Coroner
R.M. Ferguson as Public Administrator
George Wilson as County Surveyor
George B. Cain, E.C. Freyschlag and George W. Morse as County Commissioners.

The imposing courthouse,  built in 1912, bespeaks a long era of prosperity built on mining, punctuated by periodic downturns. 


Only months after Granite County's formation, a dozen years of  prosperity built on silver mining came to an end when the price of silver plummeted in the panic of 1893. All but one of the major silver mines closed, banks failed, homes and businesses were abandoned in a major depression that hit the whole country but hit Granite County particularly hard. But, as one can see from the 1903 photo of Granite (below), within a decade, mining and Granite County would make a comeback.


By 1913, the county was dotted with dozens of mines and prospects, as shown on the topographic map published with USGS Professional Paper 78, the Geology and Ore Deposits of the Philipsburg Quadrangle, by W.H. Emmons and F. C. Calkins.


The records of Granite County from the period of time before it was an independent legal entity were copied from the records of Missoula and Deer Lodge County in 1893. The earliest records from Deer Lodge County were filed at Silver Bow, the county seat from 1865 to 1867. At that time the seat was moved to Deer Lodge. Shortly after Granite County was created, Anaconda won an election contest with Deer Lodge and moved the Deer Lodge County seat there in 1897. Some records pertaining to Granite County are still in either Anaconda and Deer Lodge. Some, unfortunately, are reported by the clerks to have been lost to fires or floods at those courthouses.

10 comments:

  1. Hello! My name is Jolene and I run Ghost Towns and History of Montana on Facebook. I have traveled around the last 10 years taking photos and doing research that I now share through maps, books and a quarterly magazine. I would love to include some of your work in our mag. Could someone get back to me at ghosttownsofmontana@gmail.com? Thank you SO much! Fantastic Blog!!

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  2. You are welcome to use any of our posts on your site. Loraine Bentz Domine. Granite County Historical Society

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  3. I'm looking for information and/or photos of the Philipsburg Main Street storefront hospital run by Doc Nesbitte during the 1940s-1950s, before the present day facility was built. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My people are, Redd, Sanderson, Edwards. We were fairly prominent (notorious?) in Philipsburg in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. My aunt Wanda worked at the telephone building, and was married to Bill (Burel) Edwards. My Sanderson family were Sanderson Trucking, and my grandfather owned Redd's Shoe Shop on Main. Doc Nesbitte and his wife were close family friends. My Uncle Robin Redd was badly burned in an accident at the Sanderson home and Doc saved his life. My uncle Byron Sanderson died of cancer in his early 40s and was Doc's patient, and my sister was delivered at his storefront hospital. So any information on those long ago days would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Carson Redd . . . fstuned@gmail.com

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    1. I remember all of the families you are related to well. Sandy Sanderson and Speed were both in my class at school at one time. Sandy continues to attend our alumni parties. I do not know, nor have I ever seen any pictures of Dr. Nesbit's hospital. I was in it a number of times to visit people and know it closed in 1952 when the current medical center was built. I think he made it from apartments as I know there were apartments above and rooms alongside the hospital. The waiting room , Office and exam room were next to a long hall with 3 patient rooms and then the surgery in the back. I think the front of the building is now a Barber Shop and a quilting shop. The only people that may have a picture are his son Bill Nesbit or daughter Nancy Nesbit Loquet. They are both on Facebook. Another is Steve Neal who is the town photographer and has a wealth of pictures as his father was also the photographer. Studio phone # is 406-859-3856. My maiden name was Bentz.

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  4. I'm looking for a picture of John H. Cole - to use in a book about Garnet, Montana.

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  5. I do not have any pictures of John. Nor do I know of any one who has. Because he died before the Famous Names of Montana books were published I am at a loss at who may have his personal or family papers.It might be worthwhile to look in the Mike Mansfield Library in Missoula. Clara McDonel an in-law of John was the historian of her time. Some of her stuff was passed on to Fan Harrington who then passed things including pictures onto Wilma Bruns. Her family gave her papers to the Mansfield Library. I have not had any luck in finding people I thought would be in those papers, but that was over 10 years ago and they may not have archived them yet.
    Good Luck
    Loraine Bentz Domine

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  6. Where can I find anything regarding the noose at the jail house? I'm interested in knowing when it was hung by whom and why. Thank you

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    1. The current noose was placed in the tower by Sheriff Marvin Dagle's son in 1983. It was placed there by the son because he was the only one nimble enough to climb up there. It was meant as a symbol of the "Old West Justice" according to retired Sheriff Steve Immenschuh who was a deputy at that time. Previous nooses are known to have been hung there at periods of time since the Jail was built in 1895.There has never been a hanging in Philipsburg. One Pseudo hanging occurred at Sansome and Broadway when 4 men broke out of jail in 1909 and 4 dummies were hung. there is a picture of this frequently reproduced and sold at Gun Shows in Montana. The Mail Published a comment about this in the June 18, 2020 edition.

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  7. Good Morning. I just finished reading Garcia's Tough Trip Through Paradise and after reading the account of the incident with Hays at the mining site, I would like to know if the Porter named there is connected to the old Porter's Corner roadhouse and if the McDonald is part of the McDonald family that ranched in the upper Flint Creek Valley for many years. Any leads on these folks would be greatly appreciated. I think the fact that Garcia was able to recognize two of the fellows there from a previous meeting in the Bozeman area shows both how small the community of folks in Montana at that time was and that there must be many connections between the Montana Pioneers that are generally unknown.
    Thank you.

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