Marysville

Overview

The Drumlummon's town

Marysville lies in the Silver Creek valley about 22 road miles northwest of Helena. In 1876 Thomas Cruse, an Irish placer miner, found a rich gold vein here and named his mine Drumlummon after his home parish. The camp took the name of Mary Ralston, who Legends of America says was its first woman resident. In 1884 Cruse sold the Drumlummon to an English company for $1 million in cash and $500,000 in stock, and Legends of America says the new owners had 110 stamps at work within two years.

Through the 1880s and 1890s the Drumlummon and a dozen other mines kept Marysville working around the clock. Two railroads served it, and the town had about 60 businesses, 27 of them saloons. Wikipedia puts the population at about 3,000; Legends of America says about 4,000. Around 1900 the best ore was running out, and a boundary lawsuit with the St. Louis Mining Company slowed the work. The Drumlummon closed in 1904 and flooded, a fire took several buildings in 1909, and mining limped on under the St. Louis company until 1948. In the 1950s many houses were hauled away.

Marysville never emptied completely. The Drumlummon reopened for a few years in the late 2000s and stopped again in 2013. The 2020 census counted 82 residents, and Visit Helena calls it a semi-ghost town. Old storefronts, the 1886 church and log houses stand among newer homes, and the Marysville House serves skiers bound for the Great Divide Ski Area west of town.

Timeline

Gold, lawsuits and a long fade

1. 1876Thomas Cruse, an Irish placer miner, finds a rich gold vein on Silver Creek and names the mine Drumlummon, for his home parish. The camp is named for Mary Ralston.
2. 1880Cruse builds a five-stamp mill near the mine.
3. Feb 1881The Marysville post office opens.
4. 1883The Maskelyne Tunnel of the Drumlummon is started.
5. 1884Cruse sells the Drumlummon to an English company for $1 million in cash and $500,000 in stock.
6. 1880s–1890sMarysville is a 24-hour mining town served by two railroads, with about 60 businesses, among them 27 saloons, 7 hotels and 3 newspapers. Wikipedia puts the population at about 3,000; Legends of America says about 4,000.
7. 1886The Methodist-Episcopal church is built.
8. 1891Men killed in a disaster at the nearby Belmont Mine are buried in the Marysville cemetery.
9. 1895–1898The J. A. Shaffer Mercantile goes up in 1895 and the Masonic Lodge in 1898.
10. c. 1900–1904The rich ore runs thin and a boundary lawsuit with the St. Louis Mining Company slows work. Wikipedia says the Drumlummon closed in 1904 and its lower levels flooded.
11. 1909A fire destroys several buildings. The town rebuilds.
12. 1911–1948The St. Louis Mining Company buys the Drumlummon. Mining goes on until 1948.
13. 1950sMany houses are hauled away or left empty.
14. Late 2000s–2013The Drumlummon reopens while gold prices are high, then stops in the summer of 2013.
15. 2020The census counts 82 residents.
16. Sep 2025Longtime residents Russ and Denise Wolf take over the Marysville House bar and restaurant.

What's left

Old storefronts in a lived-in town

Legends of America lists the survivors: the 1895 J. A. Shaffer Mercantile, the 1898 Masonic Lodge, the Nels Lund Saloon built after the 1909 fire, the 1886 Methodist-Episcopal church and the schoolhouse. Wikipedia adds a baseball field with its bleachers. The church, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been restored by its private owner. Visit Helena also points to the Marysville Pioneer Memorial Building and log houses that include the town's oldest residence. The cemetery holds graves from the 1891 Belmont Mine disaster.

These buildings stand among the homes of people who live here. Treat it as a town: look from the street, and ask before you photograph anyone's property up close.

The historic maps below follow the town and its mines. The 1889 Helena sheet shows Marysville on Silver Creek with Gloster and Empire on the slopes of Mount Belmont to the west, and rail lines running to Marysville Junction and Silver City in the valley to the east. The 1899 sheet adds Bald Butte and Edwards Mountain. The 1975 Elliston sheet names the Bald Mountain, Belmont, Shannon, Empire and Penobscot mines around Mount Belmont and Drumlummon Hill.

• Methodist-Episcopal church (1886)
• J. A. Shaffer Mercantile (1895)
• Masonic Lodge (1898)
• Nels Lund Saloon (after 1909)
• Schoolhouse
• Pioneer Memorial Building
• Baseball field and bleachers
• Cemetery

Historic maps

Marysville on USGS maps, 1889–1975

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18891:250,00018991:250,00019751:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Helena is the closest city, under 40 minutes away. The route runs north out of town on Green Meadow Drive, west on Lincoln Road (MT 279), then up Marysville Road. From Great Falls, I-15 south brings you to the same Lincoln Road turn.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Marysville in photos

The restored 1886 Methodist-Episcopal church, June 2026The church from the side, June 2026An old car and empty buildings beside a dirt lane, August 2012Marysville in its valley, by Carleton Watkins, 1884, 1885 or 1890The Drumlummon workings and the Maskelyne Tunnel portal, by Carleton Watkins, 1884, 1885 or 1890Inside the mill at Marysville, by Carleton Watkins, 1884, 1885 or 1890

Visitor reports

Been to Marysville?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Marysville

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Montana index.

• Rimini18.3 mi S · Lewis and Clark
• Mike Horse19.3 mi N · Lewis and Clark
• Louisville27.3 mi SE · Jefferson
• Corbin28.0 mi SE · Jefferson
• Wickes29.2 mi S · Jefferson
• Gold Creek30.9 mi W · Powell
• Comet31.0 mi S · Jefferson
• Pioneer35.5 mi SW · Powell

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Visit Helena, "Explore Marysville", published July 8, 2025 and updated August 5, 2025: about 80 residents, "semi-ghost town," the Pioneer Memorial Building, log houses, the church, the Marysville House, the ski area.
2. KTVH, "The Marysville House has new owners and big plans", September 26, 2025: the new owners, residents, the bar as the last stop before Great Divide.
3. Wikipedia, "Marysville, Montana", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation, 1876, Mary Ralston, about 3,000 people, the 1904 closure and flooding, the 2010 and 2020 census, the ballfield, the church, the ski area, the road distance from Helena.
4. Legends of America, "Marysville, Montana", updated August 2026: Cruse and the Drumlummon, the 1880 mill, the 1881 post office, the 1884 sale, 110 stamps, businesses and 4,000 people, two railroads, the lawsuit, the 1909 fire, the 1911 sale and 1948 end, the 1950s, the surviving buildings and their dates, the 1891 graves, $50 million, the 2000s reopening and 2013 shutdown.
5. Wikimedia Commons, Watkins mine view file page, from the Beinecke Library: the Maskelyne Tunnel, established 1883.
6. ghosttowns.com, "Marysville": fact sheet fields (county, climate, best time, remains).
7. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited below each one. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• The restored 1886 Methodist-Episcopal church, June 2026: Jon Roanhaus, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The church from the side, June 2026: Jon Roanhaus, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• An old car and empty buildings beside a dirt lane, August 2012: Neal Sanche from Calgary, Canada, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Marysville in its valley, by Carleton Watkins, 1884, 1885 or 1890: Carleton E. Watkins, via Beinecke Library, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• The Drumlummon workings and the Maskelyne Tunnel portal, by Carleton Watkins, 1884, 1885 or 1890: Carleton Watkins, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Inside the mill at Marysville, by Carleton Watkins, 1884, 1885 or 1890: Carleton Watkins, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Helena 1889, 1:250,000; Helena 1899, 1:250,000; Elliston 1975, 1:100,000.