St. Marie, Montana. This is a small town in Valley County in the northern part of the state. It’s another piece of forgotten American history that outside eyes rarely see. It was the home of a working Air Force base back in the 1950’s, but since then has been decommissioned. Although there are still almost two hundred people living in the town, it once had a much higher population to accommodate the families of the employees that worked at the base. Most streets and homes were abandoned once it became inactive. It looks as though people left in a hurry, which was probably the case as this town is quite a distance from anything. I imagine once they were ordered to shut down, people relocated elsewhere soon after.
I couldn’t even say that there was an eerie feeling while walking around in St. Marie. It felt more like a void or an absence. Just imagine living on a road where all of the homes around you were completely empty and slowly being consumed by the earth. I felt like I was in some weird post-apocalyptic suburban purgatory. I couldn’t even imagine how the current residents must have felt. Small towns have eager eyes, so we didn’t stay too long. Having Massachusetts plates didn’t help.
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