This document provides descriptions of 18 former mining and frontier towns across the American West that are now considered ghost towns. It describes the boom periods when these towns were populated due to mining or railroad activity, and their subsequent declines when resources dried up or jobs moved on. Many of the towns, such as Bodie, CA and Deadwood, SD, are now preserved attractions that give visitors a glimpse into the past through their remaining historic structures and artifacts.

2. Ghost towns are an intriguing and mysterious part of the American past. In the
Old West, these towns often sprung up in response to rumors of mining riches or
job opportunities along the expanding railroad. And, sometimes just as quickly as
they appeared, the towns faded back into oblivion as resources disappeared or
jobs moved on. Although the ghost towns of California, Arizona, New Mexico,
Nevada, and Colorado are too numerous to mention, there are a few standouts
that remain popular with tourists, and some that even house a few inhabitants.
Whatever the case, tourists are charged with being respectful of these
landscapes, whether inhabited or not.

3. Bodie, CA
This former gold town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, along the California-Nevada border, had nearly 10,000
residents in the late 1870s, as well as saloons, a red-light district, and possibly even opium dens. Its slow decline
lasted well into the 20th century, with its post office finally closing in 1942. Today, Bodie is in “arrested decay” but
still has stocked stores. Just be sure not to shoplift: bad luck supposedly bafalls anyone who makes off with anything
from the site.

4. Glenrio, TX and NM
This little town straddling the Texas–New Mexico border was a busy road stop during the heyday of Route 66—
offering gas, restaurants, motels—with a few newer buildings, such as a Texaco, reflecting the Art Moderne style. The
movie crew for The Grapes of Wrath even spent some time filming here in 1939. But in the 1970s business came to a
halt when I-40 was built and literally passed by Glenrio. There are supposedly a few people who live in Glenrio now,
but otherwise the empty, largely intact little town is part of the National Register of Historic Places.

5. Thurmond, WV
This coal town from the late 1800s went from several hundred residents to 7 by the year 2000. Once a big stop on
the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, its depot has been turned into a museum, and the town is now part of the New
River Gorge National River. You can check out the restored train depot and museum, but most people come here for
river rafting.

6. Calico, CA
This former silver-mining town in Southern California peaked in the 1880s, but started declining when the price of
silver dropped in the 1890s. It was a ghost town by 1907. The town’s restoration began in the 1950s, under the
direction of Walter Knott, of Knott’s Berry Farm fame. Today, you can still see one-third of Calico´s original buildings,
you can tour a mine or wander the old port office and school house.

7. Virginia City, MT
Founded on gold mining in 1863, this town once had about 10,000 residents—including Calamity Jane—and was
even briefly the capital of the Montana Territory. Maybe it was bad karma having your capital share the name of
another state, or just the fact that gold ran out, but the city has been frozen in time since the late 19th century.

8. Rhyolite, NV
Named for the local silica-rich volcanic rock, this town near Death Valley National Park sprang up in 1905 with the
promise of gold—so much promise that a guy named Charles M. Schwab sank a lot of money into the town. Rhyolite
had a school, a hospital, and a stock exchange by 1907—as well as a bustling society that included a symphony, Sunday
school and…., lots of prostitutes.

9. Goldfield, AZ
This gold town thrived in the 1890s, then died and was reborn a number of times between 1910 and 1926. In the
1960s, it was reconstructed as a tourist stop.

10. Gleeson, Courtland, and Pearce, AZ
This trio of towns just west of Tombstone had ups and downs and intertwined fates: Gleeson used to be called
Turquoise when the stone was its main draw, but everyone left when gold was found in Pearce; Pancho Villa is said to
have fought in Courtland. Much of these three towns are now on private land, but you can wander the cemeteries or
visit the Gleeson Jail, where, on the first weekend of each month, you can take a tour. Up the road you can also see
the “jail tree,” where they used to tie up unsavory types before the jail was built.

11. Deadwood, South Dakota
Wyatt Earp, “Wild Bill” Hickock and Calamity Jane — these names are synonymous with the Old West and they all
have ties to Deadwood. Founded in 1876, the former gold rush town of about 2,300 located in western South
Dakota’s Black Hills is back to what it was, thanks in part to the legalization of gambling in 1989. Best of all, the
timeless cowboy spirit has survived as well.

12. Sheridan, Wyoming
Wyoming and cowboys are synonymous: The state has a cowboy on its license plate for crying out loud. What’s
more, Sheridan was named the No. 1 Western Town in the U.S. by True West Magazine in 2006. So was it without
merit? Of course not, this north-central Wyoming town of 16,000 is full of the cowboy spirit.

13. White Oaks, New Mexico
If you check out White Oaks’ Cedarvale Cemetery you’ll see the tombstone of James Bell, which states, “Murdered by
William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid." Back in the day, Billy the Kid hung out in this central New Mexico spot, which was
founded in 1869. Today, you can hear tales of his exploits at the No Scum Allowed Saloon, one of the few businesses
left in this former gold rush town. Technically, this is a former gold rush town turned ghost town.

14. Elisabeth Town, New Mexico
One of the most fascinating ghost towns in New Mexico, Elizabethtown was settled by gold diggers in 1866 and grew
to support 7,000 residents at its peak. Its decline started in the early 1900s, and the final residents left in the 1920s.
There are plenty of ghostly, abandoned structures for visitors to explore, as well as a museum, opened by a
descendant of a former Elizabethtown resident.

15. Gold Point, Nevada
Originally named Hornsilver because it was a silver mining camp, but it never became the boomtown its founders
had hoped.
Most of the town is now owned by Herb Robbins, otherwise known as Sheriff Stone. Here you can stay in a rustic
cabin, tour the town's abandoned buildings and hear stories about the town's history from the sheriff himself.

16. Silver City, Nevada
Silver City, a silver mining town in the 1860s, is one ghost town that remains marginally populated. In fact, only 170
people still inhabit this former railroad and mining town. Visitors are welcomed to experience the historic buildings of
the area.

17. Tombstone, Arizona
Any good cowboy town should have a motto, and "The town too tough to die" is more than fitting for Tombstone,
Arizona, and is the ultimate cowboy-town slogan. From its founding in 1879, shortly after silver was discovered there,
the population quickly grew along with the crime rate.

18. Tombstone, Arizona