Location: Silver Star is located in the Jefferson River Valley on Hwy 41, 17 miles south of Whitehall and 11 miles north of Twin Bridges.
Schools: Students attend school in either Twin Bridges or Whitehall.
History: This community claims to be the third oldest town in Montana and was once a prosperous mining town for both gold and silver. A post office was established in 1869 and a school was built in 1874 and Silver Star was the chief trading center until Whitehall was established in 1887. The town was named after a mining claim owned by George and Bill Boyer called the “Silver Star”.
A number of good mining claims were located and some of them were developed into good producers. The Iron Rod (3 miles south of Silver Star) and the Green Campbell lode attracted miners and filled both camps with an industrious population. Lumbering was essential to the mining industry. In 1869 a sawmill was built on Cherry Creek to supply the Green Campbell. The mill ran almost continuously until the mines closed.
Time witnesses change and as the mines gradually ceased operation, families that did not have a farm or ranch of their own, or close employment, had to move away. However, there are those whose roots were well established there, so they stayed. As a result some have driven quite a distance to a job.
Although there has been prospecting off and on through the years and some mines have been revived, farming and ranching are the main industries there now, with cattle and potatoes as two of the main crops.
Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria of England and later to become King, made a tour of Western Canada and from there came down through Montana Territory with a party of six, two teams and light wagons. The party put up at the Silver Star Hotel for three days in 1878.
Schools: Students attend school in either Twin Bridges or Whitehall.
History: This community claims to be the third oldest town in Montana and was once a prosperous mining town for both gold and silver. A post office was established in 1869 and a school was built in 1874 and Silver Star was the chief trading center until Whitehall was established in 1887. The town was named after a mining claim owned by George and Bill Boyer called the “Silver Star”.
A number of good mining claims were located and some of them were developed into good producers. The Iron Rod (3 miles south of Silver Star) and the Green Campbell lode attracted miners and filled both camps with an industrious population. Lumbering was essential to the mining industry. In 1869 a sawmill was built on Cherry Creek to supply the Green Campbell. The mill ran almost continuously until the mines closed.
Time witnesses change and as the mines gradually ceased operation, families that did not have a farm or ranch of their own, or close employment, had to move away. However, there are those whose roots were well established there, so they stayed. As a result some have driven quite a distance to a job.
Although there has been prospecting off and on through the years and some mines have been revived, farming and ranching are the main industries there now, with cattle and potatoes as two of the main crops.
Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria of England and later to become King, made a tour of Western Canada and from there came down through Montana Territory with a party of six, two teams and light wagons. The party put up at the Silver Star Hotel for three days in 1878.
