Editing Virginia City, Montana (section)

===Preservation===
Virginia City's population dwindled starting in the 1880s as the easily-extracted [[placer deposit|placer]] gold played out and miners moved away. Federal monetary policy in the 1930s reduced the gold content of the U.S. dollar, making gold relatively more valuable, which led to some gold mining revival across the west. However, in 1942, the National War Labor Board's Limitation Order 209 made nearly all gold mining in the United States illegal, practically shuttering the gold mining industry in the United States. By the mid- to late-1940s, the town's gold rush-era buildings were being abandoned or dismantled for their lumber.<ref name="Gruen">{{cite journal |last1=Gruen |first1=J. Philip |title=Staging the Past in Montana's Alder Gulch: Ruminations on History, Tourism, and Preservation |journal=Montana: The Magazine of Western History |date=Winter 2011 |volume=61 |issue=4 |page=22 |jstor=23127901 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23127901 |access-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref> Charles and Sue Bovey began buying the town, putting much needed maintenance into failing structures. The [[ghost town]] of Virginia City began to be restored for [[tourism]] in the 1950s. The Boveys operated the town as an [[open-air museum]] complete with artifacts and [[living history]] enactments. Of the nearly 300 structures in town, almost half were built before 1900. Buildings in their original condition with [[American Old West|Old West]] period displays and information plaques stand next to presently active restaurants, gift shops, and other businesses. The town received [[National Historic Landmark]] status in 1962, and many of its buildings have been added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="Dilsaver">{{cite journal |last1=Dilsaver |first1=Lary M. |last2=Wickoff |first2=William |title=Failed National Parks in the Last Best Place |journal=Montana The Magazine of Western History |date=Autumn 2009 |volume=59 |issue=3 |page=22 |jstor=40543651 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40543651 |access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref>

The [[National Park Service]] (NPS) considered adding the town to its system, conducting studies in 1937, 1980 and 1995. In the end, the state of Montana bought most of the historic buildings after the legislature authorized the purchase of the Bovey properties. Today, the Historic District of Virginia City and Nevada City is operated by the Montana Heritage Commission, with financial and technical assistance from the NPS.<ref name="Dilsaver" /> The commission operates [[gold panning]], the Nevada City Music Hall and Museum, and the Alder Gulch Railroad.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stay and Play in History - Explore Legendary Virginia City and Nevada City Montana |url=https://www.virginiacitymt.com/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=www.virginiacitymt.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.virginiacityplayers.com/ |title = The Virginia City Players}}</ref>

Virginia City also has a [[Boot Hill]] cemetery, where the graves of Jack Gallagher, Boone Helm, "Clubfoot" George Lane, Hayes Lyons, and Frank Parrish—all road agents killed during Virginia City's vigilante era—are placed in a location neighboring Virginia City's main graveyard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interment.net/data/us/mt/madison/boothill/index.htm|title=Boothill Cemetery - Madison County, Montana|website=Interment.net|last=Rail|first=Maggie|date=July 5, 2004|accessdate=December 23, 2022}}</ref> The {{RailGauge|2ft6in|lk=on}} [[Narrow-gauge railway|narrow-gauge]] Alder Gulch Short Line Railroad transports passengers by rail to the nearby ghost town of [[Nevada City, Montana|Nevada City]] and back.

The backdrop as well as the staged bar photos used in fine art pieces by [[David Yarrow]] are located in Virginia City at the Pioneer bar.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://davidyarrow.photography/collections/the-last-chance-saloon/|title = THE LAST CHANCE SALOON - David Yarrow Photography|newspaper = David Yarrow Photography|last1 = Photography|first1 = David Yarrow}}</ref>