Leesburg - Idaho Ghost Town

LEESBURG

NAME: Leesburg
COUNTY: Lemhi
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Cool winter and summer.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime.

COMMENTS: Just outside of Salmon.
REMAINS: Not much.

The name Frank Barney Sharkey will be remembered whenever the town of Leesburg is discussed. It was Sharkey along with four friends who discovered the huge gold find below the North Fork of the Salmon River in 1866. The town grew to a population of about seven thousand in a few years. Most of its residents were soldiers who had served either the North or South during the Civil War. Some wanted to name the town after General Lee to which, of course, those from the North objected. The North finally relented and the camp became known as Leesburg. Estimates of the value of gold removed from its mines are as high as $40 million. By the end of World War II, the last remaining residents of the town moved to more comfortable surroundings turning Leesburg into a real ghost town. Not much remains except a few decaying cabins and piles of boulders. Submitted by Henry Chenowith.

The name Frank Barney Sharkey will be remembered whenever the town of Leesburg is discussed. It was Sharkey along with four friends who discovered the huge gold find below the North Fork of the Salmon River in 1866. The town grew to a population of about seven thousand in a few years. Most of its residents were soldiers who had served either the North or South during the Civil War. Some wanted to name the town after General Lee to which, of course, those from the North objected. The North finally relented and the camp became known as Leesburg. Estimates of the value of gold removed from its mines are as high as $40 million. By the end of World War II, the last remaining residents of the town moved to more comfortable surroundings turning Leesburg into a real ghost town. Not much remains except a few decaying cabins and piles of boulders. Submitted by Henry Chenowith.

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