Ghost towns across America are frozen in time: Abandoned coal mine where a fire STILL rages in Pennsylvania and Gold Rush-era boom towns in California are among the eeriest places visitors still flock to
- Visitors can travel to the ghost towns and experience a snapshot of the past
- There are delipidated, vacant towns from by-gone ages all across the US
Across the US, there are dozens of delipidated, vacant towns that are still standing despite their residents fleeing decades – and sometimes centuries – ago.
Visitors can still creep around the eerie locations today, and see the crumbling saloons from the Wild West days, single-cell jails, and haunting graveyards.
In some abandoned locations, there’s still furniture in houses and litter on the ground – alongside vacant buildings which are on the brink of tumbling down.
Many are towns and camps which once bustled because of the Gold Rush, mining boom, or because of new highways being built near them. But for one reason or another, they now stand alone – giving passersby a snapshot of a by-gone era.
Here are 11 of the creepiest ghost towns scattered across the US.
Bodie, California: At its height in 1879, there were about 10,000 residents living in the gold mine town – but by 1915 it was officially described as a ghost town
Cahaba, Alabama used to be a major cotton-distribution area – but now it is a ghost town
South Pass City, Wyoming
South Pass City is one of Wyoming’s largest historic sites, and the abandoned site is open to visitors every year from mid-May to mid-October.
The area used to be home to over 30 gold mines on the Oregon Trial – but soon after they closed, it became a ghost town.
It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town also played an important role in women’s history.
South Pass City was where a bill was passed to make Wyoming the first territory where women could vote and hold public office after a law was signed in 1869. This freedom was not granted to women nationally until 1920.
By the mid-1870s South Pass City’s population was reduced to about 100 people. In the years following, many of the city’s homes and businesses began to fall into disrepair.
South Pass City, Wyoming: It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town also played an important role in women’s history
By the mid-1870s South Pass City’s population was reduced to about 100 people. In the years following, many of the city’s homes and businesses began to fall into disrepair
Bodie, California
Bodie, located near the Nevada state line in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe, has been described as a real ghost town – with buildings still falling down today.
The ghost town is on a 8,500-foot elevation, and again was one of the boom town during the Gold Rush.
At its height in 1879, there were about 10,000 residents living in the gold mine town – but by 1915 it was officially described as a ghost town.
Bodie was made a California Historic Landmark, meaning the town will be preserved in the years to come – and it receives about 200,000 visitors yearly.
Among the buildings lost in time in the Wild West ghost town is a wooden church and gas pumps – with the remains of old trucks still nearby.
The interiors of some delipidated 110 buildings can still be seen today – and often still contain mundane objects, like china plates and newspaper snippings.
The buildings left in the abandoned town of Bodie, California
Among the buildings lost in time in the Wild West ghost town is a wooden church and gas pumps – with the remains of old trucks still nearby
Texola, Oklahoma
Texola is located along America’s most famous route Route 66 – but the population as of 2010 is just 36.
The ghost town has actually gone through name changes across the years – reflecting the change in state lines. It used to be called Texokla and Texoma, after both Texas and Oklahoma.
Texola grew rapidly in the 1920s – and its population peaked at 581 in the 1930 census, and the area had a booming local economy following the creation of Route 66.
Texola, Oklahoma once had a booming local economy following the creation of Route 66
But in the decades following, the number of people living in the area slowly declined because of the lack of cotton production – what the town was known for in its earlier years.
One of the only things that visitors can see when they come to Texola is a quirky roadside One Room Jail. Built in the late 19th century, its a single-cell entity with an iron-barred door and window.
Centralia, Pennsylvania
There were just five residents living in this town in 2020, due to a fire that has been burning beneath the borough since 1962.
Once a booming mining town, the area went into steep decline. At its peak, the town had seven churches, 27 saloons, two theaters, and a bank.
There were also five hotels, a post office, 14 general and grocery stores in Centralia – but as many of the miners enlisted in the military during World War One, the population started to decline.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 also caused havoc for the town. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed five of its Centralia-local mines, causing further hardship for the local economy.
Once a booming mining town, the area is went into steep decline. At its peak, the town had seven churches, 27 saloons, two theaters, and a bank
Centralia, Pennsylvania: The eerie buildings which still stand have been overtaken by nature as the fire still bellows in the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines below
As many of the miners enlisted in the military during World War One, the population started to decline
Mines then started to collapse as people tried to pillage off them. This complicated the prevention of the mine fire in 1962. The fire still burns across 400 acres spreading along four fronts, 300ft underground.
There is still steam and smoke coming from abandoned portions of the area, and unstable ground and dangerous levels of carbon monoxide all also point towards the underground fire still burning.
The eerie buildings which still stand have been overtaken by nature as the fire still bellows in the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines below. Experts believe it could still be burning for the next 250 years.
North Brother Island, New York
North Brother Island is a 20-acre island in the Bronx, found near Rikers Island and the Bronx.
Up until 1964, it housed Riverside Hospital and its patients, who has quarantinable, contagious diseases. The hospital used to be on Roosevelt Island – but moved in the 1880s.
People who were in hospitals on the island were treated for smallpox, tuberculosis, polio, and typhoid.
In 2007, the island was given to the City – who turned it into a sanctuary for water birds.
It is closed to the general public, and most of the original 25 building still stand, but are delipidated.
North Brother Island is a 20-acre island in the Bronx, found near Rikers Island and the Bronx – but it is no longer accessible to the public
New York’s ghost town: People who were in hospitals on the island were treated for smallpox, tuberculosis, polio, and typhoid
Ruby, Arizona
Ruby is 50 miles southwest of Tucson, and was once the largest mining camp in southwest Arizona.
But it is now officially a ghost town, despite its thriving business in the 1930s and housing a population of 1,200.
It’s activity as a mining hub was massively helped by the Montana Mine and the Eagle-Picher Mining Company, however when that ended in 1941, the town also went into decline.
Between 1920 and 1922, the town also saw three double homicides – named the Ruby Murders. The crimes led to the largest manhunt in the history of the Southwest.
Today, visitors can see around 25 buildings, including the jail and school – for a fee of around $12.
Ruby, Arizona: It is now officially a ghost town, despite its thriving business in the 1930s and housing a population of 1,200
Cahaba, Alabama
Cahaba was once Alabama’s first permanent state capital in the 1820s – and served as a major cotton-distribution area.
Residents often endured floods – and soon the area became near uninhabitable. It stopped appearing on census rolls after 1880.
The area is now run by Alabama Historical Commission who maintains the site as Old Cahawba Archeological Park.
Visitors can see the antebellum architecture, old streets, cemeteries, and ruins of the old state capital.
Cahaba was once Alabama’s first permanent state capital in the 1820s – but it soon fell from prominence
Alabama: Visitors can see the antebellum architecture, old streets, cemeteries, and ruins of the old state capital
Spokane, South Dakota
Located about 10 miles southeast of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota’s Black Hills, Spokane used to be a mining camp.
The area is now riddled with ghost town buildings, which used to surround lucrative gold, silver and copper mines.
Once the mine stated to fail, it was closed in 1940 – and the town was largely abandoned within the next decade.
A watchman remained in the town until the mid 1980s, but then it was officially abandoned.
In Spokane, visitors can still see the large schoolhouse and several old cars lining the streets.
Spokane, South Dakota: Once the mine stated to fail, it was closed in 1940 – and the town was largely abandoned within the next decade
Blue Heron, Kentucky
This area along the Big South Fork River near the Kentucky-Tennessee border once used to have a busting mine, which was in operation from 1937 to 1962.
The town was then abandoned after the coal mines closed – and its buildings were either removed or decayed.
But in the 1980s, there was an attempt to re-create the town, which has now been opened as a ‘ghost structures.’ People can visit Blue Heron and experience what it was like in the isolated mining community.
There are ‘ghost’ structures all around Blue Heron, Kentucky now, which visitors can check out
Frisco, Utah
At its peak in 1885, Frisco was a thriving town of 6,000 people thanks to its active mining caps between 1879 and 1929.
By 1885, Frisco had mined over $60million worth of zinc, copper, lead, silver and gold. The town had a total of 23 saloons, and was known for being the wildest town in the Great Basin – ravaged by murders occurring nearly everyday.
However, the bustling town’s lucrative industry came crashing down on February 13, 1885. The Horn Silver Mine completely caved in, causing a slow decline in economy.
Frisco, Utah: This mining town used to thrive – but is now just held up by delipidated buildings
Goodsprings, Nevada
Goodsprings is situated around 45 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip – and is frozen in time.
Visitors can see the Pioneer Saloon – which used to service one of the most bountiful mining districts in southern Nevada.
By World War I, Goodsprings had a population of about 800 people, but this dwindled significantly after World War II as mining families slowly moved away.
Today, there is a population of around 200.
The Pioneer Saloon used to service one of the most bountiful mining districts in southern Nevada
Goodsprings, Nevada: Today, there is a population of around 200
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