Store a glimpse of Gilmore past

SALMON, Idaho – A couple has bought a building that played a significant role in central Idaho history and donated it to the Lemhi County Historical Society and Museum so that it can be restored and used as an interpretive center.

“I think it is one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen,” Hope Benedict told the Post Register.

Benedict and her husband, Stewart Carrington, last September bought the Gilmore Mercantile from a private owner in Utah. It was once the hub of the formerly thriving town of Gilmore, located about 50 miles east of Salmon.

Now, the mercantile is one of the few remaining buildings in the town that hundreds of residents abandoned after silver mining ceased at the start of the Great Depression in 1929.

The building has been vandalized and used for target practice. A recent plan had been floated to build an RV park at the town site, most of which is privately owned. So when the mercantile came up for sale, Benedict decided to buy it.

“Places like Gilmore enabled Lemhi County to exist,” Benedict said. “It really contributed to the development of the county as a whole.”

The Idaho Heritage Trust and Lemhi County Historic Preservation Committee also donated money to help the museum acquire the building, Benedict said.

Officials with the Bureau of Land Management have said they would help with interpretive displays.

“It was one of the more important mining districts in the state,” Steve Wright, an archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management, told the Associated Press on Monday. “For the time it was a lot of money. Gilmore was quite a booming town. It had its own railroad.”

Benedict, who has a doctorate in U.S. history, said her grandfather owned and ran a butcher shop in the town, and that her father grew up there.

“This is the only building we have left besides a few crumbling cabins,” Benedict said.

“I want people to come up and admire it and enjoy its legacy rather than shooting at the side of the building.”