12. Virginia City, Montana
Virginia City was also a mining town back in the day, founded in 1863 and once housed 10,000 residents. Saloons, dance halls, and brothels offered entertainment at that time and a variety of restaurants and stores supplied everything else.
On May 26, 1863 Bill Fairweather and Henry Edgar found gold in what is now called Virginia City. They wanted to keep their discovery a secret and keep the gold all to themselves, but the word got out and in just a few weeks, Virginia City became prosperous. By Fall, between around 10,000 people called this place their home.
This city is frozen in time, but tourists call it very much alive. As a tourist in Virginia City, you’ll get to see one of the best-preserved mining camps of the American West. It been preserved as a National Historical Landmark.
If you want to visit Virginia City, you’ll get a taste of how life was in those times, thanks to unchanged buildings, houses, and several performers who bring the history of the town to life. You can even find an opera house that performs vaudeville theater.
