Ghost Towns (Roman, 1980s, state, country)

[CelticViking]

Similar to the wild west/outlaw topic...We all know that Ghost Towns were made popular by the wild west/cowboy/outlaw era...We all know when thinking of Ghost Towns we think of the west from the northwest to the southwest...What state makes you think of ghost towns? Where would you think most would be located? Just your own personal thoughts...no need for primarily factual info.

[sean sean sean sean]

I know Ghost Towns are a Wild West icon....but being from the Northeast, the ghost town that has always fascinated me is Centralia, PA.....the town with the anathracite coal mine fire burning underneath it. I'm sure most people have actually heard of this by now, so I'm not gonna go on and on about it....but if you haven't, there are tons of websites dedicated to it - like this one that has some really neat before and after pictures!

[rickers]

Our state of Montana has lots of ghost towns, many of them have old wild west looking wooden buildings but some have many crumbling brick buildings as well. I just visited one called Kendal. The site is owned and kept up by the Boy Scouts Of America.

[mensaguy]

West Virginia has may Ghost Towns, abandoned after the coal was all mined out of the nearby mountain.

[BereniceUK]

Ghost towns fascinate me, maybe because of the romantic image we now (mostly) have of the Wild West. I would particularly associate states such as Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming with them although I'm well aware that all of the first 49 states have them (does Hawaii?).

From all I've read it would seem that many more mid-Western small towns are headed towards becoming ghost towns in the decades to come. Which will be a shame because some of the most enjoyable moments of my US holidays have been when I've visited small towns - Paint Bank VA and Bridal Veil OR

[JefferyT]

Im thinking of Arizona and maybe Nevada. But the whole Mountain West could qualify as "classic" (or stereotypical) ghost town country.

[Fred314X]

I would like to recommend a fascinating book, Ghost Towns of the West, by Lambert Florin (1971). A great, big coffee table book--872 pages loaded with photos.

[John Walmsley]

Bodie is California's most popular ghost town. The scenic drive over the Sierra Nevada Mountains is definitely a plus.

Bodie SHP, Bodie State Park, Bodie State Historic Park - Bodie.com

[BlackShoe]

California.The Gold Rush created scores of camps,hamlets,and towns that no longer exist or were absorbed.The previous post mentioned Bodie,perhaps the most noteworthy and famous in the state.

[j_k_k]

There are one or two on the Hanford site (eastern WA) with some fairly good preservation because the residents got thirty days to pack, after which access was controlled by people with automatic weapons, armored fighting vehicles and air support and remains so to this day. That means no accidental fires from kids fooling around, no looting and no vandalism.