Montana Ghost Town - Never Going Back (Updated Pic & Comment)

Williams, MT.

Not really a ghost town, not really a town at all anymore.  If fact, it’s almost completely gone now except for a few sheds, the General Store Building, half the original school house, and one last residence.  The current landowner lives there, and the surrounding plowed field shows no evidence that at one time is was a busy little town from 1910 until about 1935.  This town was about agriculture, not gold or silver, and most the folks farmed or worked a local irrigation project as laborers.

Williams had a post office from 1910 until the fall of 1958.  The school stood complete until the late 1970s… but now is half fallen in.  Nobody famous lived there, nobody famous died there.  Williams was a quiet unassuming town on the railroad with a few grand houses, stores, post office, creamery, a hotel, blacksmith and garage, farm implement store and a few other goodies every little prairie town needs including a park. The population never grew over a few hundred, which included outlying areas.

I have a book full of wonderful first hand stories about life there… but, will spare you the details as my finds, sorry to say, really sucked.  These folks lived on the Montana high plains during some rough years… they didn’t loose money, and they didn’t have treasures to bury.

I detected here once before… it was 6 degrees and the ground was like concrete so I wanted to get back to it.

The truth is… this place has been bugging me more than exciting me… so I made the 80 mile drive to check it out Sunday, just to finally hunt it and scratch it off the list.   We have free reign to hunt it anytime we (Wingman Tony and I) want to – and I can tell you; “I’m never going back.” 

The drive out…



Finally… the last thing with the name Williams on it…



And the last five miles…



That morning in Great Falls it was 50 degrees… but when I got to Williams it is 30 degrees… and it snow flurried on and off for the next four hours…



Google overview of the old town site…



Three before and after pics… I tried to get the angle right.  Hopefully the pictures are close enough to see the resemblance.







Friends I made in the old Williams Town Park…



The only find that made my heart jump – an eye ball find before my detector swung over it…



The crape’ I found… none of it worth keeping… at all.  Even the insulator is chipped and broken.  I’m showing you everything I dug except the 50 nails…



This is a curious “what is it”.  Its aluminum and used to be a round or on oblong shaped tapered tube.  There is a small ring on the larger end.  I’m not sure how long it could have been originally but the part I found is around 6 inches.  Any ideas?



As always – thanks for looking.

PS - Wingman Tony, you were right all along, this place sucked.

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Looks like a great trip.  Nice post.

well it was an adventure and ya got to see it..so it wasnt a total bomb... wish I coulda seen it...  so there is what? one person that still lives there?

well it was an adventure and ya got to see it..so it wasnt a total bomb... wish I coulda seen it...  so there is what? one person that still lives there?

One guy lives there... in the last house left in town, and owns al the townsite property.  All the others moved away by the 1960s (most by the late 30s) and they all took their houses with them.  LOL

Jim, I love the photos and all the interesting history that you and WT came up with. . . very cool!
I guess you might say that this is one piece of an interesting puzzle you've finally put in place ;)

Take care,
watercolor

That place did suck. I am glad you are smart enough to not go back.

Keep hitting those meadows, buddy. There are but-tins to be had!

Kirk

P.S. Did the small coil pick between the trash? ;)

Sounds like a great place to find a trade token from a ghost town. Remember, persistence pays!

I know its easy for me to agree with this statement, so I will   Must be other goodies hiding & it maybe worth considering when your desperate.

Great pictures with excellent comparisons - made for an interesting post, even without the gold coin

Your pictures are great as is the story. It sounds like the place really bites as far as finds are concerned. I must agree though, you think there would be a trade token or two kicking around in there somewhere. Oh well now it is off your list and off your mind so that is a good thing. Time to hit the fields!!!!!!

I think the chance to walk around an old town that has been lost to time is priceless in itself.  There are many many old towns that nobody has heard of that have a history of their own.  Even though you were not there during its heyday, you are now part of its history simply for bringing the place to our attention.  Very very cool in my opinion.

Jim, I think I see a Colonial foundation in that field to the right.

Did the small coil pick between the trash? ;)

Jim, I think I see a Colonial foundation in that field to the right.

Kirk, I love ya bud...but you gotta stop being a prick!

ya know - it was a nice story and a good post, it reminds me alot of a place i once had found, i was so excited and researched it up and down and was absolutely SURE there was good stuff there to be had, well after a few trips to it, i slowly realized, as you did with this site, that for whatever reason there was nothing there to find ... all that history and there was nothing there ...

sometimes things just don't add up ...  your site had hundreds of people over 25 + years, lots of buildings and was probably miles from any other town, but yet nothing there to find ...

and on the flip side, i've been to some farm fields recently that were just that, farm fields, no buildings, no activities, not even listed as anything other than a farm field on maps 150+ years old - no history there what-so-ever but there were coins there - for whatever reason, lots of coins ...

go figure ...

take care

vp

Did the small coil pick between the trash? ;)

Jim, I think I see a Colonial foundation in that field to the right.

Kirk, I love ya bud...but you gotta stop being a prick!

Buck,

Jim knows I am joking with him.

personally i would have ignored the main open area
then pounded the area around the general store
then after nothing
hope for a few cool items in the open areas
*hats off* been there

Jim, I truly enjoyed my visit to the ghost town, I loved the scenery and I believe the relics you found are just really neat.  You did an outstanding job on the research and you met some nice looking friends too.  I would go back in a heartbeat, my kind of MDing.

 ;) RR

Zesty, I'm glad you weren't all alone out there...and found some friends. 

It looks like a place where you could spend months and months detecting....and probably come up with some good coins....or move on to greener pastures!  ;)

Great building comparisons and research.   

Thanks everybody... I really appreciate the comments and am glad you liked the post...

There is prolly some stuff out there... but the "quality to quantity" ratio is way to low for me to
seriously spend more time there...

The area around the store would prolly be the most productive, if a guy wanted to dig iron
the rest of his life... not me... not here.

One more comparison picture... the color store picture was taken in January of this year by myself.   
The area is SO littered with iron, I would not even contemplate hitting it... Not every site is a winner.



Also... any and all information about Williams, MT to include the B&W pictures came from the book: Williams, The Gem of the Project, by: Freda Nelson... who at the time of publication on 1979 was the last resident of Williams, MT. Or the current resident who I shall not name.  

I have to say it - holy sh-t, look at that place. To a Long Islander, it looks like the moon. That first picture is incredible! I can see why they call it "Big Sky."

I have to say it - holy sh-t, look at that place. To a Long Islander, it looks like the moon. That first picture is incredible! I can see why they call it "Big Sky."

I'm from upstate NY originally... I have in-laws on the Island... both in South Hampton and in Hicksville.   Been there... done that.

I like Montana Better by the way.    It's not the moon... but it sure beats the Cross Bronx Expressway... LMAO

Jim this is a great post ! I love viewing the pictures of the endless highway  Your story > great also! I can see why you love Montana 

What a great post, Jim. Always love the pictures and a bonus to see the comparisons. I can remember a time (not so very long ago) when all those finds were keepers! ;)

                     Super post! Thanks for sharing.  Nana

Jim,
Just sent ya some info, I love the story behind the pictures, and to damn cold to ride, yea buddy. LOL!! Now if ya lived where Kirk lives, shoot you would  be rollin in buttons and copper colonials and on and on and on but I'm sure he' dug everything up by now!! LOL
Rebel Man
Kirk just kiddin

 There is coins to be had there i would not give up so easy.
id spend a week hunting it if i could.

Jim this is a great post ! I love viewing the pictures of the endless highway  Your story > great also! I can see why you love Montana 

CD... I'm glad you like the pictures...  

What a great post, Jim. Always love the pictures and a bonus to see the comparisons. I can remember a time (not so very long ago) when all those finds were keepers! ;)

I think the coolest thing about this site is the pictures I took... The finds?  eh... trash.

There is coins to be had there i would not give up so easy.
id spend a week hunting it if i could.

I have better places than this to hunt... Like I said - the trash to treasure ratio does not excite me... if it were older... maybe 1860s and on I would be hitting it a few more times.  I researched, I tried twice already, I'm done with it.   LOL...

Thanks for the comments!

 

Great post and pics Jim----That place was prolly pounded hard back in the 70s.

Zesty, I'm glad you weren't all alone out there...and found some friends. 

It looks like a place where you could spend months and months detecting....and probably come up with some good coins....or move on to greener pastures!  ;)

Great building comparisons and research.   

Zesty?

Great job on the research Jim. There are a lot of towns like that here in Washington......look incredible, but nothing but iron junk. Then you find one that is great.....and it keeps you going.

Paul

Great job on the research Jim. There are a lot of towns like that here in Washington......look incredible, but nothing but iron junk. Then you find one that is great.....and it keeps you going.

Paul

Thanks Paul... finally, someone who understands that not all places are awesome... even though they look promising.   I did enjoy the day, I did take some pics, I did meet some cows and that's always a blast... I named them Patty and T-Bone (sorry FelinePeachy), and generally enjoyed myself despite the finds.

Jim... er, I mean Zesty. 

Great post Jim, you took the time once again to make a really GOOD post with nice before and after pics.  I Really like those types of posts.  Appreciate it! ;)

Paul in Wa....Mona usually calls him "Zesty." I would, too, if I was a woman. ;)

Jim, you are #1 in my metal detecting heart.

BDD...Kirk

 

This is a great teaching post and thread for a newbie in Montana!

Thanks, Montana Jim, for showing what good research and effort can yield - VERY inspiring.

It also lets us know that it is not always a good idea to commit endless search hours to a non-productive site.

 
mg

This is a great teaching post and thread for a newbie in Montana!

Thanks, Montana Jim, for showing what good research and effort can yield - VERY inspiring.

It also lets us know that it is not always a good idea to commit endless search hours to a non-productive site.

 
mg

Thanks man... welcome to treasurenet!