Elkhorn, MT

Elkhorn is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Montana, United States, in the Elkhorn Mountains of the southwestern part of the state. The 2020 census counted 12 residents. Elkhorn was originally established as a mining town in the 19th century. The community is considered a ghost town, and two of its buildings are preserved as Elkhorn State Park. That mix gives Elkhorn a clear local shape within Montana, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. Lodes of silver, described by geologists as supergene enrichments, were initially discovered in the Elkhorn Mountains by Peter Wys, a Swiss immigrant. Six years later, Anton Holter, a pioneer capitalist from Helena, began developing the mine. Elkhorn is in eastern Jefferson County on the south side of the Elkhorn Mountains, in the valley of Elkhorn Creek.