Burke, Idaho

Burke, Idaho
Ghost town
East hillside of Burke as seen in 2017
East hillside of Burke as seen in 2017
Burke, Idaho is located in Idaho
Burke, Idaho
Burke, Idaho
Burke, Idaho is located in the United States
Burke, Idaho
Burke, Idaho
Coordinates: 47°31′13″N 115°49′13″W / 47.52028°N 115.82028°W / 47.52028; -115.82028
CountryUnited States
StateIdaho
CountyShoshone
Elevation
3,700 ft (1,100 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code
83807[1]
Area code(s)208, 986

Burke is a ghost town in Shoshone County, Idaho, United States, established in 1887. Once a thriving silver, lead and zinc mining community, the town saw significant decline in the mid-twentieth century after the closure of several mines.

In its early years, Burke was home to the Hercules silver mine,[2] the owners of which were implicated in the Idaho mining wars of 1899.[3] Both the Hecla and Star mines also operated out of Burke,[2] and the town was a significant site during the 1892 Coeur d'Alene labor strike. Burke's location within the narrow 300-foot-wide (91 m) Burke Canyon resulted in unique architectural features, such as a hotel built above the railway and Canyon Creek, with the train track running through a portion of the hotel lobby.

After several natural disasters and years of decline in the mid-twentieth century, Burke mining operations finally ceased in 1991 with the closing of the Star mine.[4] In 2002, about 300 people lived in or nearby Burke Canyon,[5] though Burke itself had no residents.

Burke is located about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Wallace, at an elevation of 3,700 feet (1,130 m) above sea level. It is accessed from Wallace on Burke-Canyon Creek Road (State Highway 4). The town is located approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian province of British Columbia, and roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) west of the bordering U.S. state of Montana.[b]

  1. ^ "Office in Burke gets new name". Spokane Daily Chronicle. December 5, 1966. p. b3 – via Google News. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference bh53 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Schwantes 1996, p. 317.
  4. ^ "Hecla Mining - 2012 Exploration Report - Silver Valley". Hecla Mining Company Company Website. Hecla Mining Company. Archived from the original on October 13, 2014.
  5. ^ "EPA is a bad word in Burke". The Spokesman-Review. July 21, 2002. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  6. ^ "Burke, Idaho". Google Maps. Retrieved February 22, 2018.


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