Keeping Montana History Alive

Concessionaires of Virginia City

Virginia City and Nevada City. Just a mile and a half apart, these storied towns in southwest Montana are steeped in history that dates back to before Montana’s 1889 statehood. Gold was discovered here in the 1860s, and soon after came people — lots of them. The towns sprang up, becoming a hub for nearly 10,000 folks chasing the Western American dream. The area was so prosperous that Virginia City became Montana’s territorial capital for a 10-year span before Helena was named the third and final territorial capital and eventually the state capital.

In gold rush boomtown fashion, though, the towns’ meteoric rise sputtered as the gold ran out. By 1880, just 50 people remained in Nevada City and soon it was a ghost town. Virginia City headed toward the same fate: Residents left over the years, and by the 1940s, many of the town’s original structures were abandoned and falling into disrepair. Thankfully, a preservation effort turned things around, starting in the 1950s with Charles and Sue Bovey, later with the Montana Heritage Commission, and today with both year-round Virginia City residents and dedicated concessionaires who run a variety of businesses in historic buildings owned by the state.

Now, more than 160 years after the initial gold discovery that put Virginia City and Nevada City on the map, the communities annually welcome more than 1 million visitors who arrive to experience Montana’s rich history firsthand. In Virginia City, you can stroll the wooden boardwalk along the main thoroughfare just as Montanans more than a century ago did. You can peek into original buildings staged with period furnishings and wares, and you can stop into the state’s oldest bar, a candy store, and an opera house that stages melodramas and vaudevillian productions of the kind that were popular decades ago — all of which are housed in historic structures. You can ride the Alder Gulch Shortline Railroad — or simply drive — to Nevada City, which lives on as a seasonal, open-air, living history museum. The town features a mix of buildings original to the site and period-correct structures collected from around the state. Summer weekends see living history interpreters populate the community, showing what it was like to live there in the mid-1800s.

When you visit Virginia City and Nevada City, it’s hard to believe that you haven’t actually stepped back in time. But this wouldn’t be possible without the concessionaires who breathe life into these historic buildings, creating an environment that mixes the traditions of the past with the energy of the future. Peak season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and it’s fast and furious from start to finish for the businesses that spend all year working toward a season that lasts less than four months.

“There’s an energy and vibe when you get to serve 200 people a day. It’s pretty fun — you get to meet a lot of people,” says Marcus Stark, executive chef at The Star Bakery and Restaurant in Nevada City. He’s cooked and lived all over the world, and his talents have brought him to southwestern Montana, where he’s taken on the responsibility of running this iconic Nevada City spot, which first opened in 1863 and is one of the oldest restaurants in Montana.

“We offer fresh, approachable American fare that is comfortable, but my background is in Japanese cooking, so I try to add flair when I can,” he says. This has led to familiar menu staples that sit among unique dishes, like matcha pancakes, that aren’t a typical find in this corner of the world. Marcus also plans to offer an omakase experience — an intimate, chef-selected tasting menu with 10-15 different dinner courses.

But Marcus also knows his audience. “I try to hit several different niches that are all a part of this place’s overall appeal,” he says. This means the grab-and-go case is always stocked with provisions for outdoorsmen who are passing through before hitting the trails or putting in at the river, and tourists from all over the world can grab a bite of authentic, Montana cooking.

And Marcus isn’t the only one tailoring an experience to suit a wide array of people. At the historic Virginia City Opera House, Stephen Alan Seder, associate theater professor at the University of Montana-Western, serves as artistic director of the Virginia City Players, one of the only professional theater groups in the country producing shows in the melodramatic and vaudevillian style that was traditional during the town’s heyday. He explains that coordinating a show here goes far beyond what the audience sees on stage.

“There's nowhere else that has this kind of experience."

"As a concessionaire and as someone who runs a summer stock company like this, you have to think holistically about the whole town. When does the train run? When do the Follies perform? When do people want to go get food? When do things close? We have to schedule our hours and create shows that are just long enough so people can go and enjoy those other things.

They might be here to see the players and they might be here to see the Follies, but we want them to experience the whole town. So we have to be really cognizant and careful to program a season so people can enjoy us while also getting to take in everything that's in Virginia City.”

“We'll make really fun, entertaining theater that's family-friendly, that continues the traditions of this historic building and is a safe place for families to come and enjoy what theater used to be in the old days,” he says.

For Stephen, ensuring the continuation of the Virginia City Players is a mission close to his heart. For one, he sees the Virginia City Opera House — where he himself learned how to be a theater professional in his seasons with the players — as a place where the youth of the community and other rural places in Montana can gain exposure to the performing arts and explore theater. Second, he’s proud to bring fresh ideas and energy to the players while keeping the opera house’s traditions alive, and by extension, the traditions of Virginia City. In that, he joins a long line of folks keeping the history of this corner of Montana intact.

“Virginia City has always been a melting pot of different people from all over the world coming together to preserve it."

"The people here care about this town, and it's a very eclectic group of people. So while [there] is new blood, it's also this old guard of people who want to take care of it and nurture it,” he says. “I'm really drawn to that and I'm really taken by how much people love this place.”

While Virginia CIty and Nevada City’s gold rush boom has come and gone, these communities have certainly far from busted. Today, these unique, historic towns are alive and thriving as a result of the people who have made it so, preserving this integral piece of Montana history for generations to come.

“People should visit Virginia City because this place is steeped in so much history,” Stephen says. “This is where the miners came to dig for gold, and they've preserved the history of this location so well. You can go to Nevada City and see all of the old buildings that they have been preserving. And you can walk through Virginia City and get a sense of what it was like to be here in the Old West. There's nowhere else that has this kind of experience. People should come here to see what that history is and to learn from it.”