Rocky Bar, Idaho facts for kids
Rocky Bar is a fascinating ghost town in Elmore County, Idaho, United States. A ghost town is a place where most people have left, and it's mostly empty now. Back in the late 1800s, Rocky Bar was a busy place with over 2,500 people living there! It was even the main town, called the county seat, for Alturas County from 1864 to 1882. Later, when Elmore County was created in 1889, Rocky Bar was its first county seat too.
Rocky Bar was started in December 1863. This happened soon after people found gold nearby in the Feather River. Within just two years, it became the most important settlement in the area. Some even thought it might become the capital city for Idaho Territory. Even though a big fire destroyed much of the town in 1892, people rebuilt it. However, the town slowly became smaller and smaller. No one has lived in Rocky Bar permanently since the 1960s.
Rocky Bar is about 62 miles northeast of Mountain Home. A large area around Rocky Bar, about ten miles square, is listed as the South Boise Historic Mining District. This means it's an important historical place because of its mining past.
How Rocky Bar Grew
Rocky Bar began as a simple camp for placer mining. This is a way of finding gold by washing it out of sand or gravel. By 1863, the South Boise area, including Rocky Bar and Atlanta, had 560 people.
Gold and Silver Discoveries
Soon, people found gold and silver deep underground in rock formations called lodes. This led to the creation of underground mines. By 1864, there were 80 arastras working. An arastra is a simple machine used to crush ore and get minerals out.
Mining Technology and Decline
Bigger machines called Stamp mills started working by 1865. These mills crush rock to get the valuable metals. By 1887, there was a very large mill with 50 stamps! However, the gold and silver deposits were not very deep. This meant that the amount of gold found started to go down in 1889. The big fire in 1892 then destroyed a lot of the town.
