Burke, Idaho, Shoshone County is a fascinating ghost town with a rich history nestled in the rugged terrain of Idaho’s Silver Valley. Known for its once-thriving mining community and unique geography, Burke’s story unfolds as one of resilience and eventual decline. Below is detailed information about the town.
County: Shoshone County
Zip Code: Not available
Latitude / Longitude: 47.5547° N, 115.8167° W
Elevation: Approximately 3,802 feet (1,159 meters)
Time Zone: Pacific Time Zone (PT)
Established: 1887
Disestablished: Not officially disestablished, but largely abandoned by the mid-20th century
Comments: Burke was founded during the silver and lead mining boom in the late 19th century. The town was built in a narrow canyon, leading to a unique layout where railroad tracks and the mine shared the main street.
Its challenging geography and frequent avalanches often disrupted daily life. At its peak, Burke was a bustling mining town with a population of several thousand, supported by the Hecla Mining Company and other operations.
Remains: Today, visitors can still find remnants of Burke’s past, including the ruins of old buildings, mine structures, and the remnants of the canyon-spanning railroad trestle. The area is marked by the iconic Tiger Hotel, a partially collapsed structure that once stood as a tribute to the town’s vibrant days.
Current Status: Largely abandoned, Burke is now considered a ghost town. It occasionally attracts tourists, history enthusiasts, and photographers drawn to its picturesque yet haunting remnants. Some mining operations in the area have continued intermittently, but the town remains uninhabited.
After several natural disasters and years of decline in the mid-twentieth century, Burke mining operations finally ceased in 1991 with the closing of the Star mine. In 2002, about 300 people lived in or nearby Burke Canyon. Burke is about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Wallace, at 3,700 feet (1,130 m) above sea level.
It is accessed from Wallace on Burke-Canyon Creek Road (State Highway 4). The town is approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian province of British Columbia and roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) west of the bordering U.S. state of Montana.
Remarks: Burke’s story symbolizes the rise and fall of many mining towns in the American West. Its unique setting and the dramatic remnants of its mining era make it a compelling destination for those interested in the frontier’s history and the indomitable spirit of those who once called it home.
Burke’s legacy lives on through the stories of its past and the enduring allure of its ghostly landscape.
In its early years, Burke was home to the Hercules silver mine, whose owners were implicated in the Idaho mining wars of 1899. The Hecla and Star mines also operated out of Burke, and the town was a significant site during the 1892 Couer d’Alene labor strike.
Burke’s geographical location within the narrow 300-foot-wide (91 m) Burke Canyon resulted in unique architectural features, such as a hotel built above the railway and Canyon Creek, with the train track running through a portion of the hotel lobby. In 1884, miners discovered abundant lead and silver in the Burke Canyon.
The first mine, the Tiger Mine, was discovered in May 1884. By the end of 1885, over 3,000 tons of ore had been extracted from the Tiger Mine. In 1887, the Tiger Mine was sold to S.S. Glidden for $35,000, and Glidden began construction on a railway to transport ore down the canyon from Burke to Wallace.
In 1887, the Northern Pacific Railway improved upon the rail after accumulations of mined ore in the town had reached over 100,000 pounds (45,000 kg), and the town of Burke was established. The first ore shipment to Wallace occurred on December 12, 1887. The town was serviced with trains by the Northern Pacific and the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company.
Given its position within the narrow canyon, Burke had to share its boundaries with the Northern Pacific rail spur, resulting in a railway that occupied the street running through town. The limited space purportedly forced businesses on the west side of the railway to retract their awnings when trains passed through.
However, according to Bill Dunphy, a town resident, this was an exaggeration: “It was narrow,” he recalled. “They always said that when a train came through Burke, you had to hoist the awnings to get the train through, which wasn’t right. But it’s a good story.”
On February 4, 1890, the first of several avalanches in Burke’s history caused major damage to the residences and businesses in the town and killed three people. Beginning in 1891, tensions between miners and the mining companies began to rise. In 1892, hard rock miners in Shoshone County protested wage cuts with a strike.
Two large mines, the Gem Mine and the Frisco Mine in Burke Canyon, 1 mile south of Burke, operated with replacement workers during the strike. Several lost their lives in a shooting war provoked by the discovery of a company spy named Charles A. Siringo.
On the morning of July 11, 1892, a gunfight at the nearby Frisco Mill inadvertently ignited a box of dynamite, causing the mill to explode, killing six people. The U.S. Army forced an end to the strike. By the mid-twentieth century, Burke’s mining operations had slowed after several mines were closed.
The last mine in Burke closed in 1991. According to U.S. Census data, Burke had fifteen residents in 1990. In recent years, Hecla Mining Company has explored the potential of exploiting additional resource deposits in the Star mine.
As of December 31, 2012, Hecla invested $7 million in rehabilitation and exploration, with published estimates suggesting the potential to recover over 25 million ounces of silver from the site with significant zinc and lead deposits also present.
