Ghost towns and mining camps are the last remaining vestiges of the Old West; there is a mystique surrounding these places that has made exploring them a pastime for many in the western United States. Nevada has more than a thousand of these boom-and-bust towns. Some are completely abandoned, while some still struggle to survive and even serve as county seats. Sadly, these wonderful places, including those covered in this volume, are constantly in danger from vandalism and neglect. Many ghost towns and mining camps have been destroyed or damaged needlessly, and those who are captivated by their charm must protect these windows into history so that they survive for future generations.
A poem describing the rise and fall of Rhyolite, a town in the desert of southwestern Nevada which grew from one gold claim to a town of 10,000 people, then, a few years later, was deserted.
High in the Inyo Mountains, between Owens Valley and Death Valley National Park, lies the ghost town of Cerro Gordo. Discovered in 1865, this silver town boomed to a population of 3,000 people in the hands of savvy entrepreneurs during the 1870s. As the silver played out and the town faded, a few hung on to the dream. By the early 1900s, Louis D. Gordon wandered up the Yellow Grade Road where freight wagons once traversed with silver and supplies and took a closer look at the zinc ore that had been tossed aside by early miners. The Fat Hill lived again, primarily as a small company town. By the last quarter of the 20th century, Jody Stewart and Mike Patterson found themselves owners of the rough and tumble camp that helped Los Angeles turn into a thriving metropolis because of silver and commercial trade. Cerro Gordo found new life, second to Bodie, as California's best-preserved ghost town.
The Silver State's most bizarre and creepy stories of paranormal activity, including . . . The Lost City outside Las Vegas Lynching apparitions on downtown Reno's Wedding Ring Bridge The haunted Goldfield Hotel The cursed airbase in Tonopah Apparitions of celebrities at Cal Neva Resort in Lake Tahoe, including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and gangster Sam Giancana
Despite a century of history, and the valiant efforts of all those who believed the town would last forever, Aurora, Nevada, is now and forevermore a "Colossal Wreck" slowly returning to its beginnings-a sagebrush and pinyon pine covered valley home to jackrabbits and a few ghosts from the past. While Aurora is gone, its historical record remains, thus providing us the opportunity to reconstruct the town and its society if only in our imagination. Most historical accounts about Aurora have focused on the town during its early 1860s mining boom. However, Aurora's rich and colorful history deserves a closer look. This new reference-oriented publication includes hundreds of edited and annotated newspaper clippings and other firsthand accounts about Aurora's buildings, businesses, major mines, social life, Paiute citizens, ghost town days, and final destruction over the entire length of its century-long history. It also includes directories for the boom years 1864, 1880, and 1915, as well as 6 maps and over 150 photographs, many of which are "then and now" comparisons of the same view.
"Ghosts Towns of the West is the essential guidebook to the glory days of the Old West! Ghost Towns of the West blazes a trail through the dusty crossroads and mossy cemeteries of the American West, including one-time boomtowns in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The book reveals the little-known stories of long-dead soldiers, American Indians, settlers, farmers, and miners. This essential guidebook to the historic remains of centuries' past includes maps, town histories, color and historical photographs, and detailed directions to these out-of-the-way outdoor museums of the West. Plan your road trips by chapter--each section covers a geographic area and town entries are arranged by location to make this the most user-friendly book on ghost towns west of the Mississippi. Ghost towns are within a short drive of major cities out West, and they make excellent day trip excursions. If you happen to be in or near Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, or El Paso, for example, you ought to veer towards the nearest ghost town. Western ghost towns can also easily be visited during jaunts to national parks, including Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, Glacier, Yellowstone, and many others throughout the West. Ghost Towns of the West is a comprehensive guide to former boomtowns of the American West, covering ghost towns in eleven states from Washington to New Mexico, and from California to Montana. This book has everything you need to learn about, visit, and explore a modern remnant of how life used to be on the Western range"--
Tombstone, Bodie, St. Elmo, Silver City: these are some of the most famous of the Old West ghost towns and mining camps that dot America's landscape and provide hints to the country's history. But literally thousands more are scattered throughout the West, with some states boasting hundreds of abandoned boomtowns. Attracting thousands of visitors every year, many of these are protected by public and private parties alike, and visits are carefully regulated in order to preserve these valuable historical relics. Clint Thomsen describes various types of ghost town, explains their histories, and outlines ongoing research and archaeological study into decaying towns and mining camps.
A stunningly photographed examination of the roadside icons that dot America's landscape. Lost America celebrates the boom-to-bust towns, aircraft bone yards, and filling stations of days past that were sacrificed at the altars of speed and technology and relegated to windswept desert plains and abandoned fields. The eye-catching and memorable photography is complemented with a succinct text history that details the rise and fall of each subject. The result is an impressive tour of an America still standing, yet largely forgotten.
For fans of Gillian Flynn, Caroline Cooney, and R.L. Stine comes Ghost Town: Seven Ghostly Stories from four-time Edgar Allen Poe Young Adult Mystery Award winner Joan Lowery Nixon. In the old towns of the Wild West, there’s more to hear than the paint peeling from the deserted storefronts, more than the tumbleweeds somersaulting down the empty streets. If you listen hard, you can hear voices whispering stories. Stories like the one about the lost mine in Maiden, Montana, or how Wyatt Earp won the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. And don’t forget about the Bad Man from Bodie, California—he’s still searching for his lost finger! Can you hear them? “An entertaining collection.” –School Library Journal “Combining history and mystery…[Ghost Town: Seven Ghostly Stories] recalls classic campfire tales.” –Booklist “A well conceived (and titled) collection…[of] chilling short stories.” –Kirkus Reviews
