Leesburg, Idaho

United States historic place


Leesburg
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district

Leesburg's old school
45°13′26″N 114°6′50″W / 45.22389°N 114.11389°W / 45.22389; -114.11389
Architectural style	Rocky Mountain
NRHP reference No.	75000634^[1]
Added to NRHP	April 4, 1975

Leesburg is an unincorporated community in Lemhi County, Idaho, United States. It lies at 45°13′26″N 114°6′50″W / 45.22389°N 114.11389°W / 45.22389; -114.11389 (45.2238080, -114.1139647),^[2] along Napias Creek in the Salmon National Forest, west of Salmon.^[1] Its altitude is 6,653 feet (2,028 m).^[2]

History

Leesburg's population was 75 in 1909.^[3] The community possessed a post office as late as 1942, but it has since closed.^[4] Little remains of the original community.^[5] The entire site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.^[1]

History

Leesburg was established after gold was discovered at the Leesburg Mine on July 16, 1866. The mining town was named for General Robert E. Lee because most of the settlers were Southerners.^[6] It once had a population of 7,000, including Chinese; 100 business firms; and a main street a mile long. Miners dug over 400 miles of ditches to carry water to sluice out gold. By 1930 placer mining was carried on nearly entirely by hydraulic methods. The mine produced nearly $16,000,000 in gold prior to 1938.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
^ ^a ^b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Leesburg, Idaho
^ Davis, Ellis A. (1909). Davis' New Commercial Encyclopedia: Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, the Pacific Northwest. Ellis A. Davis. p. 189.
^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Leesburg Post Office
^ Rees, John E. (1918). Idaho Chronology, Nomenclature, Bibliography. W.B. Conkey Company. p. 86.
^ Legacy of the Civil War in Idaho at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 August 2017), Retrieved 7 June 2023
^ *Fisher, Vardis; Federal Writers' Project (1938). "Section II Historical Ghost Towns". Idaho Encyclopedia. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, Ltd. pp. 98–114. OCLC 962624.

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