Laurin, Montana

St. Mary of the Assumption Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church located at Laurin, Madison County, Montana, United States, in the Diocese of Helena. It is noted for its historic parish church.

Alder is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Madison County, Montana, United States. The population was 86 at the 2020 census, down from 103 in 2010. The community takes its name from Alder Creek (named by Henry Edgar in 1863), the site of the second major gold discovery in Montana.

Alder Gulch (alternatively called Alder Creek) is a place in the Ruby River valley, in the U.S. state of Montana, where gold was discovered on May 26, 1863, by William Fairweather and a group of men including Barney Hughes, Thomas Cover, Henry Rodgers, Henry Edgar and Bill Sweeney who were returning to the gold fields of Grasshopper Creek, Bannack, Montana. They were on their way to Yellowstone Country from Bannack but were waylaid by a band of Crow Indians. After being ordered out of Crow hunting grounds, they crossed the East Slope of the Tobacco Root Mountains and camped for the night in Elk Park, where William "Bill" Fairweather and Henry Edgar discovered gold, while the remaining party was out hunting for meat. Agreeing to keep the new discovery quiet the group of miners returned to the town of Bannack for supplies. However, word leaked out about the new strike, and miners followed the Fairweather party out of town. The party stopped at the Point of Rocks, part way between Bannack and Alder Gulch, and established the Fairweather Mining District in a miners meeting. It was agreed that the discoverers were entitled to two claims and first choice. The first stampede of miners reached Alder Gulch June 6, 1863, and the population swelled to over 10,000 in less than 3 months. The "Fourteen Mile City" ran the length of the gulch, and included the towns of Junction City, Adobe Town, Nevada City, Central City, Virginia City, Montana, Bear Town, Highland, Pine Grove French Town, Hungry Hollow, and Summit. Upon arrival the miners lived in brush wickiups, dugouts and under overhanging rocks until cabins could be built. The first structure built in Virginia City was the Mechanical Bakery. Virginia City, and Nevada City were the centers of commerce during the height of the Alder Gulch gold rush. In the first year the area had over 10,000 people living there. Montana Territory was established in May 1864, and the first territorial capital was Bannack. The capital then moved to Virginia City, where it remained until 1875. The Alder Gulch diggings were the richest gold placer deposits ever discovered, and in three years $30,000,000 was taken from them, with $10,000,000 taken out in the first year. Nowadays, except during summertime, the streets of Virginia City are usually quiet and relatively few visitors find their way to the 16 ton granite monument that marks the spot of that incredible discovery of May 26, 1863. Alder Gulch is named for the alder bushes that grew along the creek.

Brandon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Madison County, Montana, United States. It is in the northwestern part of the county, at the western base of the Tobacco Root Mountains, in the valley of Mill Creek. Via Mill Creek Road it is 3 miles (5 km) southwest to Sheridan in the Ruby Valley. Brandon was first listed as a CDP for the 2020 census, when it had a population of 46.

The Christ Episcopal Church and Rectory in Sheridan, Montana is a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes a one-story church built of local granite, with two gables facing onto Main Street. To its west is a two-story gambrel roofed rectory built in 1906, also of the local granite. As of 1987, a c.1960 parish hall stood between them, and there was a c.1900 wood-frame garage at the back of the property. The church has an open bell tower that was added in 1901. The church probably was designed by architect George Hancock.

Sheridan is a town in Madison County, Montana, United States named after the Civil War general Philip Sheridan. The population was 694 at the 2020 census. Sheridan is known as the "heart of the Ruby Valley." Seven mountain ranges surround the town: Tobacco Root Mountains, Highland Mountains, McCartney Mountain, The Pioneers, The Ruby Range, The Gravelly Range and the Snowcrest Range. The Ruby River winds through the valley just west of the town. Sheridan traces its beginnings to the construction of a sawmill on Mill Creek by James Gammell in 1863.

The Ferris-Hermsmeyer-Fenton Ranch, at 144 Duncan District Rd. in Sheridan, Montana, in Madison County, Montana, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The listing included a 160 acres (0.65 km2) area with nine contributing buildings, a contributing structure and two contributing sites. The ranch was established in 1872 by Jane Ferris. It is located in the heart of the Ruby River valley. Ferris' application described an original c.1866 barn which still exists. Jane Ferris was a widow with two small children. She seems to have been the only woman in the Sheridan area who was successful in using preemption to secure land and a home, for herself and her heirs. The lower Ruby Valley was opened for settlement in 1863, soon after gold discoveries in Bannack and in Alder Gulch nearby, and before there was any government survey of the land which could have led to sale of the land to the public. By the 1841 Preemption Act, any 160-acre area of unsurveyed land was open for settlement, essentially by squatters who lived on the land for 14 months, by heads of households being either a man over age 21 or a widow. The property that she claimed included an 1866 cabin, which became a portion of the main residence, and an 1866 barn, and these were described by Ferris in her 1872 application for preemption. The property was farmed by her daughter and her family in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Later, the Frederick and George Hermsmeyer families further improved the property with additional buildings related to farming. Various owners held the property after World War I, then in 1937 the Fendon family took ownership. The Fentons brought the ranch back into prosperity and improved it, especially during and after World War II when agricultural prices were better. The ranch had stayed among Fenton descendants for 70 years when it was nominated for listing on the National Register in 2007, at which time it was owned in the Wuelfing last name. The ranch was deemed significant for its "association with women's history and the use of federal public land law for settlement in southwest Montana during the formation of Montana territory."

Nevada City ( niv-AY-də) is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Montana, United States. In the 1860s, it was one of two centers of commerce in what was known as one of the richest gold strikes in the Rocky Mountain West, along with its sister city Virginia City. As the gold played out and prospectors moved away, Nevada City gradually became a ghost town. Since the late 1950s, Nevada City has become a tourist attraction for its collection of nineteenth-century buildings within or surrounding the Nevada City Museum and Music Hall.

Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961 the town and the surrounding area were designated a National Historic Landmark District, the Virginia City Historic District. The population was 219 at the 2020 census.

Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,623. Its county seat is Virginia City. The county was founded in 1865; at the time it was part of the Montana Territory.

Noble Lake is a lake in the U.S. state of Montana. The elevation of the lake is 9025 feet.

The Tobacco Root Mountains lie in the northern Rocky Mountains, between the Jefferson and Madison Rivers in southwest Montana. The highest peak is Hollowtop at 10,604 feet (3,232 m). The range contains 43 peaks rising to elevations greater than 10,000 feet (3048 m). Much of the central part of the range is within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, although many—mostly small—patented mining claims exist within the forest boundary. The range saw significant gold mining, especially during the 1880s to 1930s. The high peaks have been extensively glaciated, and most of the larger stream valleys held valley glaciers during the ice age.