# Are there any authentic US ghost towns worth seeing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379 "2009-10-28T00:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/1 "2009-10-28T00:34:52Z")
For reasons unknown, I have recently become facinated by US History, especially pertaining to the Old West from about 1860 to 1890. This summer I went on a road trip through parts of Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota and was able to visit a number of historic sites, such as the Little Bighorn battleground and the town of Deadwood, SD, but no ghost towns. My question is this: Are there any partially restored western towns from that era that look close to what they would have looked like during that era? I’ve read about some ghost towns that have a few run down structures, but they are just tourist traps and they have paved streets running through them, which is obviously not authentic to that era. So are there any authentic restored western towns that you would recommend seeing? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/2 "2009-10-28T00:36:39Z")
Detroit ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/3 "2009-10-28T00:58:33Z")
I visited [Bodie CA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie,_California) about 10 years ago and found it interesting - but mostly because it hadn’t been restored. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/4 "2009-10-28T03:34:51Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Detroit I was thinking that, because I’d just been in the Detroit thread, but I wasn’t going to say it. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/5 "2009-10-28T03:40:42Z")
It is a bit later than the Wild West period, but [Kelso, California](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelso,_California) is interesting. Certainly not a tourist trap. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/6 "2009-10-28T03:49:16Z")
I’ve been wanting to visit [Rhyolite, NV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada#Ghost_town). ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/7 "2009-10-28T14:38:27Z")
I’ll second Bodie. I was there this summer, and it’s really interesting. I happened to show up on a reinactment day, so there were people in period costume all over, which isn’t usually the case. It turned out that we knew the mule driver - small world. It’s worth going to, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/8 "2009-10-28T14:48:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve been wanting to visit [Rhyolite, NV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada#Ghost_town). I went there in January this year - my pics are [here](http://public.fotki.com/mups/rhyolite-abandoned-/). There really isn’t an awful lot to see there, it’s all abandoned and derelict buildings in various states of disrepair which is pretty much what you’d expect from a ghost town! There was an exhibition of sculptures there as well which looked very out of place in the setting, but it was an interesting expereince. I think the most striking thing was just standing in the middle of what was the main street and just looking around and seeing absolutely nothing in terms of habitation for miles around. It was amazingly silent too, which was a welcome change from the incessant din of Vegas! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/9 "2009-10-28T15:01:47Z")
Isn’t Jerome Arizona supposed to be interesting? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/10 "2009-10-28T15:08:29Z")
> [@ScareyFaerie](#): > > I think the most striking thing was just standing in the middle of what was the main street and just looking around and seeing absolutely nothing in terms of habitation for miles around. It was amazingly silent too, which was a welcome change from the incessant din of Vegas! This is how I imagine it. When I lived in the desert I liked to drive my Jeep up into the foothills and just look over the valley. Very scenic and quiet. I’ve just remembered C.W. McCall’s [_Ghost Town_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkXwnXSEmbw). That’s not McCall’s recording, but there are lots of nice photos in the video. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/11 "2009-10-28T15:16:01Z")
[Bannack,](http://www.montanapictures.net/bannack-montana.htm) Montana is a great ghost town to visit. Montana has preserved it as a state park. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/12 "2009-10-28T16:05:09Z")
I stopped into the old mining town of [Independence, CO](http://www.heritageaspen.org/indep.html) (near Aspen) in August. You need to park on top and walk down into the valley; there are no paved roads running through it. I don’t usually visit ghost towns so I really don’t have much to compare it to, but it was interesting. Most of the buildings are long gone, but a few are still standing. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/13 "2009-10-28T16:24:31Z")
Maybe less authentic then you’re looking for, but [Virginia and Nevada City, MT](http://www.virginiacitymt.com/) are billed as a “living history museum,” with a lot of very well-preserved wild west buildings and artifacts. There’s a refurbished steam engine from 1910 that you can take rides on! I worked there for a summer and it’s a great place. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/14 "2009-10-28T17:10:23Z")
Jerome and Virginia City have some great history and interesting buildings, but on the weekend, they’re anything but “ghost” towns. I’d say they are comparable to Tombstone in that regard. Walking around Rhyolite, you really do feel like you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Even the Bullfrog gold mine on the other side of the mountain is abandoned now. (That’s good for the old bottle house–the vibrations from the operation were shaking it apart.) Berlin in central Nevada is REALLY out in the middle of nowhere. It’s worth a trip to see not only the town, but the excellent Ichthyosaur display just down the (dirt) road. Kelso is worth a visit these days more for the restored train depot. The park service has turned it into a really nice interpretive center for the Mojave National Preserve. Farther south in the Mojave, the Randsburg/Johannesburg/Red Mountain “complex” has a definite ghost town feel to it. At Bodie, the buildings aren’t really restored–the policy is one of “benign neglect”. A ranger told me that they only do maintenance to keep stuff from falling over. The main mine building would be amazing to check out, but they’ve got it all fenced off. There are abandoned crossroad “towns” all over the southwest that ran out of money or couldn’t attract enough tourists to say alive. All that’s left anymore are just abandoned buildings that are falling down and the detrius of the people’s lives. Great stuff for photographs. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/15 "2009-10-28T17:45:55Z")
I toured [Tropico Gold Mine](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&num=100&q=%22tropico%20gold%20mine%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) when I lived in the desert. It was very interesting. Unfortunately, tours were stopped a long time ago. I understand that the buildings are unsafe for tourists. Films and TV shows are still shot there though. I envy the owners, being able to explore it whenever they want. Too bad they can’t get some sort of historical grant to make it safe and allow the public back in. . ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-authentic-us-ghost-towns-worth-seeing/515379/16 "2009-10-28T17:47:10Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Isn’t Jerome Arizona supposed to be interesting? Jerome is a thriving artist community. Well worth visiting, but hardly a ghost town. Here’s a big list of Arizona ghost towns: [Ghost Towns of Arizona - Arizona ghost towns with history, pictures, and location](http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/az.html)