Visiting a ghost town in the Western United States is like taking a look into the past. Seeing a ghost town first hand allows tourists and other visitors to experience history. Abandoned businesses and crumbling houses are common characteristics of a ghost town. They're also pieces of the town's history. On a visit to a ghost town you might be lucky enough to see its past brought to life by people dressed in costumes replicating the dress of the old west.
Ghost towns are cities or towns that were once bustling, but have been completely abadoned by inhabitants for economic reasons, natural disasters, or war. Several of the ghost towns located in the western United States were former sites of tremendous mining activity. When gold, silver or other precious materials were discovered it often caused a flood of miners to invade an area and set up shop. In some cases, towns were created where a valuable vein of ore was stumbled upon. The appearance of the miners created a need for supply stores, saloons, banks and other businesses. A town thrived for as long as the miners were successful. However, when the precious material became sparse the miners and their families moved away in search of another livelihood. Calico, California is an example of a place that enjoyed prosperity with the discovery of silver. The town was all but abandoned when the value of silver decreased. Many other ghost towns in the western United States share a similar story. Hundreds of ghost towns were also created when towns were abandoned when the US highway system replaced railroads as the most popular form of transportation.
Another example of an intriguing history behind a ghost town belongs to a place called Rhyolite in Nevada. The story goes that gold was discovered in Rhyolite by two miners in 1904. Their discovery, referred to as the, "..Bullfrog strike.." caused an influx of miners looking to make their fortunes. Miners and their families existed in tents with little access to food or water. In the years of productive mining the town expanded with the construction of a bank, a jail, a post office, a school and several other buildings. Eventually, a power company moved in and allowed Rhyolite access to electricity. Rhyolite was a bustling town full of commerce for several years. Then, as mining production slowed people began to desert the town. Finally, a town that had onceseen a population of about, "..ten thousand people.." was labeled a ghost town by the year 1919.
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Part of the fun of visiting a ghost town is in trying to decipher its history by looking at the remains of its former prosperous existence.
Article written by Janice D. McDonald