Nick/Flickr Creative Commons
There’s something simultaneously fascinating and eerie about entering a true ghost town. The feeling of being surrounded by symbols of human civilization, and stability, yet all the people are gone is a strange one but it’s also very educational. Seeing how different groups of people came together for whatever reason, and what they did to solve the problems of water, food, sanitation, education, and survival against the elements is very enlightening. Before the days of every town looking the same with the same McDonald’s, the same Walmarts, the same Valero Stations — towns were very very individualistic and we’re going to talk about a few towns you can visit today where everyone has disappeared.
Bodie, CA, is one of those ghost towns that is actually maintained. Maintained in a state of “arrested decay” as I believe the quote goes. The State of California has made Bodie a State Park back in the ’60’s to preserve the town as an example of California’s gold rush era town, being founded somewhere around 1859. The town sprang up to a population of almost 5-7000 people and 2000 buildings after a mine cave-in exposed a rich vein of pay dirt. Folks started drifting away by the late 1880’s and the mine company starting to shut things down just prior to WWI. By the 1940’s less than ten folks lived in Bodie, acting as caretakers of the town for the family that owned the land.
NAParish/Flickr Creative Commons
Rhyolite, NV, is another gold rush town, being founded in the early 1900’s when gold was discovered on nearby Bullfrog Mountain. The legend goes, Rhyolite was a 2 man mining camp in January 1905. Two weeks later it had a population of 1200, and a mere six months later in June 1905 it had a population of 2500 souls, over 50 saloons, 16 hotels, a couple of those after hours establishments, and a weekly newspaper. By 1911, a mere six years later, the mine was closed. In 1922 only one inhabitant was left…a 92 year old man, who passed away two years later. The townsite is now maintained by the BLM and it has been used in several movies as well.
Remember though y’all, before you head out into the desert chasing ghosts, visit us at PPLmotorhomes.com for all those parts and accessories that keep your wheels turning!