More About Charcoal Kilns—November 7, 2010 Charcoal kilns pop up all over Old West Charcoal kilns similar to the ones in Piedmont, Wyo., dot the West. "I confess to being kind of a kiln fanatic. I've seen hundreds and never get tired of them," said Philip Varney of Tucson, Ariz., the author of "Ghost Towns of the Mountain West" (Voyageur Press, 2010). "They're engineering marvels, because they're unsupported through the middle." Varney says the kilns in Piedmont are quite photogenic. Li. "I think kilns have sort of a special look, like something from an ancient civilization," he said. "They look so different, and so beautiful." The first kilns Varney saw were in Arizona, and he was curious enough that he swam the Gila River to get a closer look. He also enjoys visiting the Nicholia Charcoal Kilns in Idaho's Birch Creek Valley, and the partial kilns at Idaho's Bayhorse ghost town. Ward Charcoal Kilns, southeast of Ely, Nev., are among his favorites because there are so many and they're well-preserved. In Utah, Varney recommends the Frisco Kilns west of Milford. Last time he was there, five kilns were intact, but showed signs of vandalism. "Frisco is a ghost towner's dream," said Varney. "It has a good cemetery ... and still has remnants of the town." Philip F Notorianni, director of the Utah Division of State History, says if you go into the hills of former mining areas, you could probably find more kilns, because they were needed 7 "Ghost Towns of the Mountain West,'written by Philip Varney and published by Voyageur Press, includes photos of old charcoal kilns, including Ward, Nev. to produce charcoal to smelt the metal. "Kilns were often put at a source of lumber, and close to where a smelter operation was," he said. "If you had a mining operation and wanted to only send high-grade materials to market, because it cost money to transport it by wagon or train, you would build a smelter close to where the mine was, and often the kilns were near there." — Becky Wright 215