Boulder River, Montana, courtesy Wikipedia
Situated at the junction of Princeton Gulch and Boulder Creek Canyon in Montana, the Princeton Mine was the first discovery in the Boulder Creek District in 1868.
Though the claims were worked on a small scale for several years, significant mining activity wouldn’t start until the early 1880s. The Princeton Mining Company bought the lode in 1882 and was then actively developed, employing about 50 men extracting primarily silver ore. The small camp that grew up around the mine soon boasted a post office, school, hotel, store, and about 20 homes. The area mines continued to operate intermittently until early after the turn of the century, retrieving approximately $1.25 million in silver, gold, lead, and phosphate.
Today, all that is left are a few dwellings, now occupied primarily by summer residents. The old townsite is located about 16 miles northeast of Phillipsburg. Travel north on Montana Highway 10A, about ten miles to Maxville, then east on Maxville Road for about 6 miles.
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated March 2023.
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