Birch Creek Charcoal Kilns
Gilmore Area, Lemhi County
- Grant: 1998, 2025 – repair to entryway arches on 4 existent kilns
Location: Caribou Targhee National Forest, 5 miles west of HWY 28
Warren C. King of Missoula had the original 16 kilns built around 1885 to supply charcoal for the two massive blast furnaces of the Nicholia Smelter in upper Birch Creek, which was part of the larger lead- and silver-producing Viola Mine. The kilns are 21 feet in diameter and stand a full 23 feet tall.
The Viola Mine produced large amounts of lead and silver, and smaller amounts of gold, copper, and zinc. Ore from this mine was transported down the mountain to Smelter Gulch just north of the Nicholia town site. This smelter consumed 50,000-60,000 bushels of charcoal per month to process 130 tons of ore per day, which produced about 700-730 bars of lead bullion. The bulk of the charcoal used in the smelter came from the Birch Creek Charcoal Kilns, which produced 44,000-50,000 bushels per month, employing as many as 200 people.
The parabolic or “beehive” shaped kilns replaced the earlier method of producing charcoal in pits. Timber from nearby mountain slopes was harvested to feed the kilns, and you can still see the effects of this deforestation. Each kiln could accommodate up to 30 cords of wood at a given time, with the wood cut into 4-foot lengths. Wood would be loaded into the lower doors first, then topped off from the upper door on the opposite side. The doors and most of the vents would then be closed, a fire lit, and the rest of the vents would be closed after the flame took hold, charring the wood. The entire process would take 7-8 days from loading in the wood to unloading the resulting charcoal. Charcoal was then loaded into wagons containing about 400 bushels each and hauled the 13 or so miles over to the smelter. A bushel of charcoal was worth about $.13 at the time, meaning a whole wagonload was valued at about $52.
Today, only four kilns remain – two completely intact and two without their distinctive domes – while circular depressions denote the placement of the missing twelve. It is rumored that nearby residents tore down the kilns in the intervening years, repurposing the bricks for their own use. Previous restoration efforts involved the introduction of non-historic materials (namely Portland cement), which hastened deterioration. In 2024 and 2025, these materials were removed and replaced with period-appropriate mortar, ‘new’ bricks were salvaged from debris onsite, and the kilns were whitewashed in an historically accurate manner. In 2026, work to repair the crumbling archways on the lower doors will commence on all three kilns, providing needed structural stability to the existing domes and safe access to the interior of all four structures.
The kilns are listed in the National Register for Historic Places as of February 1972.
