Once Upon a Time

Sixteen charcoal kilns were built on this site in 1886 by J.W. and W.C. King of Butte, Montana. The kilns produced charcoal for the smelter at Nicholia for about two years. When the smelter closed suddenly in 1888, operations at the kilns abruptly stopped. Many of the kilns were left loaded with wood and 40 acres of cordwood was left stacked in rows nearby. With the kilns closed, the wood eventually was carried away or left to rot in the sun. Twelve kilns were torn down and the bricks used for other buildings in the Lemhi Valley and the Snake River Plain. This site is now included in the Targhee National Forest.

Idaho · United States