What is a ghost town? When thinking of a
ghost town, do not rely on what is shown in movies or television shows. The fantasized
version of ghost towns show a town in the midst of the desert with old, boarded
up windows and full false building facades. Walking down the dusty road and
onto the wood plank sidewalk, an explorer can walk throughout the front doors
and go inside and see just as everything was a century earlier. The old bar,
the dust-filled piano, furniture dispersed throughout the room all silently
resting. I guess what is shown on film isn't always correct. As each
year goes by, ghost towns dwindle more and more to an eventual absolute nothing.
Yet, the nothing will remain a ghost town but there will be no remains. But,
how is a ghost town formed to begin with? A lot of western ghost towns were
built during the crazed days of mining. Towns were set up where supposed
prosperous mines were located. Saloons, hotels, brothels, general stores, and
many other establishments were set up to take the miner’s money and to provide
entertainment and supplies. Just as fast as the town was built, the town could
be abandoned. Buildings were built quick and cheap and weren’t meant to last
long since most people knew mines didn’t last forever. Therefore, when a mine
either proved worthless, flooded or was depleted, a lot of buildings were taken
apart and moved to another town nearby or a newly formed town.
There are other ways ghost towns were
formed. In areas where there are no longer jobs, people are determined to
leave. Population for towns either increase or decrease, whether drastic or
not, and when they decrease, the threat of becoming a ghost town can occur. So
many western towns during the nineteenth and even early twentieth century
didn’t survive. I first visited a ghost town when I moved to Arizona and
visited a few in the southwest corner and fell in love with them. I’ve always
had a fascination with old buildings. Growing up in Iowa, I loved going to
Pioneer Village in Worthington, Minnesota and visit the collection of old
buildings set up to resemble the way they once were. Living in Arizona, I
looked up old maps, old books and satellite images of land to see if there were
any traces of an old town or old remnants – ghost towns are nothing as the film
industry envisions for us. I traced old railroad tracks and searched for any
signs of remains; a task that was frequently tedious and upon hiking certain areas
proved to be nothing. Often times, even a former town that once held over a
thousand people, there is just a partial wall remaining from the dozens upon
dozens of buildings that once stood in the area. Sometimes, the wood was
removed and repurposed, walls collapsed during a windstorm or in other weather
elements, but so many buildings in a desert element were built with adobe.
Adobe is a strong material created from earth substances but when the roofs of
the buildings either collapsed or the wood was taken off to be reused, the
adobe was left vulnerable to Mother Nature. Depending on geographical
situation, townspeople used different materials to build their town which
created a variety of different styles of buildings throughout each region in
the West.
Fifty years ago, ghost towns had more
buildings but as each year goes by, treasure hunters hurt the area and the
weather takes its toll on the buildings and eventually, nothing will remain but
history. One phrase I like to say is that soon there will be nothing but the
memories – until even the memories are no more. Much history of the towns are
told in books but those who used to live there have moved and passed on and
their history became forgotten about and just as quiet as the towns themselves.
Traveling to the largest ghost town in Arizona, Vulture Mine, I loved the town
and the buildings that remained. There was no main street full of wooden
structures but instead stone, wood and adobe structures spread throughout an
area. Every time I see such an area, I look at each building and see cracks,
collapsing, and eventual destruction since preservation is too foregone for
such an area. Some buildings are even too hazardous in some areas that they are
torn down – such as the ghost town of Lester, Washington. What is most fun
about a completely abandoned ghost towns is the adventure to find them. Through
research, GPS waypoints, and following maps that are over a hundred years old,
coming through the trees and brush and seeing large walls brings a sense of
accomplishment and excitement. Boring for some, yes, but I love to think of the
history in such an area. I like to read beforehand as well as after to see what
happened, whether a gunfight, miner’s strike, fire, Indian raid, or even a
short burst of history – this is an area where people lived and people died. An
area where memories are long gone and forgotten. An area I like to see and
photograph to preserve history until even the remains are melted back into the
earth. Even though many ghost towns are forgotten about and faltering back into
the unknown, many are still being created as all towns and communities will eventually
face uncertainty – just look at all the abandoned superpowers of the Ancient
civilizations.
