Galata, Montana

Galata is a little farming community on the Montana Hi-Line that one could consider to be a "Class D" ghost town according to Ghost Town USA, CT classification criteria. Most of the buildings are abandoned and slowly moldering.

Main street has some really great buildings that are for the most part still standing, but are definitely sagging a bit and that High Plains winter surely blows through the cracks in the walls!  The road is good, though, and the people in the area are friendly!

Galata is easily seen from the highway, but by the time we realized that it was the beautiful piece of history it is, we had passed it numerous times without giving it a second glance.  It was just one more small farming town on the Hi-Line.  The evening we actually made the turn onto the road and saw it for what it was, there was a gorgeous sunset brewing.  It was a fitting introduction, 

I think.

Most of the houses in town are in various degrees of disrepair, but like this one, still look relatively sturdy and are extremely photogenic.

Behind the main street is a large lot full of old wagons, farm equipment, and various other old relics.  This wagon is just one of the many interesting pieces of history the town has to offer!

The last time the kids and I were through Galata it was terribly cold, the wind had blown everything away but the ice, and the town definitely had a very different character than it did on any other time we'd visited.  But the charm was definitely still there, and thinking of the pioneers who built this place at the turn of the century, with minimal amenities and very basic equipment, facing this same sort of weather, really makes it all the more intriguing and well worth making that turn off the highway!