Nevada is the mother-lode for ghost towns. You can revisit the past at so many venues that it can easily take you a week’s worth of travel time to visit them all. These are sites to be savored and cherished as bits of Americana that have now been abandoned and left to the elements.
Are there ghosts in ghost towns, or is this just the name given to abandoned places? Some say yes, some no, but whatever the case, you can surely hear the past as you appreciate the present at these places.
What is a Ghost Town?
Ghost towns come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Usually, these are places where former “booms,” such as mining or the railroad, are long gone, and the remnants of times past are still preserved, either naturally or by the remaining population.
There may be boarded up windows on the businesses, rubble from buildings that have collapsed with time, or there may simply be a severe decline in the population. Some towns have been abandoned while others are still inhabited. They may constitute a historical landmark, so tread lightly when visiting places such as these.
All that’s left in many places is evidence of a town’s previous glory. “Real” ghost towns have little left but the foundations of businesses and artifacts strewn about the area. These are physical bits of real history.
Ghost Towns in Nevada: Just a Short Trip from the Strip
There are several ghost towns that are close to Las Vegas. Visits to these towns would constitute a day trip, or possibly overnight if you want to visit several of them on your excursion. Those of us who live here sometimes like to step back in time. For guests to our region, it can be a welcome relief from the 24/7 lifestyle that's called The Strip: a way to revisit the Old West..
Chloride Mining Town: Chloride is just south of Hoover Dam, off US 93. This town’s name came from the ore in which miners found caches of silver, gold, lead, zinc and turquoise, beginning with the boom of “Silver Hill” in the late 1860s. At one time, two modes of transport served this town: The Butterfield Stage (1868 to 1919) and the Santa Fe Railroad (from 1898 to 1935). The town grew to over 2,000 residents by 1920, but when the cost of mining materials and labor escalated in the mid ‘40s, the mines shut down, the townspeople left and it began to look as though Chloride would become a “real” ghost town.
It’s a good thing that visitors fell in love with the location and climate, because Nevada’s famous artist, Roy Purcell, painted murals on the rocks high above the town near the mines, which drew even more people. You can find a functioning saloon (the Tennessee Saloon) and visit the Visitor’s Center for a glimpse of bygone days.
The Infamous Gunfighters put on a Wild West show on the first and third Saturdays of each summer month and you can find BBQ’s, Arts & Crafts Fairs, All Town Yard Sales, Auction Days and feel the real western hospitality throughout the year. For more information, please contact the Chamber of Commerce at PO Box 268, Chloride, AZ 86431 or phone (520) 565-2204.
Goldfield Ghost Town: Goldfield was once Nevada's largest city. When gold was discovered in 1902, Goldfield was the scene of luxury and opulence seldom seen in mining towns. It was the "Queen of Camps," with over 20,000 residents during its peak, when the mines produced an amazing $10,000 a day in 1907! This town featured several mining stock exchanges, three newspapers and five railroads, and Goldfield has it's place in the Guinness Book of World Records! It was here that a 42 round prize fight between Joe Gans (Crowned The Lightweight Champion of the World) and Battling Nelson (disqualified for a "vicious foul>) took place.
A flood in 1913 and a fire in 1923 destroyed much of Goldfield's past, but some of its history can still be seen. The famous "Tex" Rickard house and the courthouse are still standing, as is the Santa Fe Saloon, a real popular place in its day. For information, please contact Goldfield Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 210, Goldfield, NV 89013, or phone (702)485-6365.
Oatman, Arizona: While not technically in Nevada, Oatman is still close enough to visit on a day trip. You can find Oatman about 20 miles east of Laughlin. Once a thriving mining town, you can now see wild burros wandering the streets of this popular TV and movie western backdrop.
The town was named after the Oatman family, six of whom were massacred by Apache near Gila Bend, Arizona. The Oatman Hotel, formerly the Durlin Hotel, is the oldest 2-story building in Mojave County was built in 1902, and this is where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their wedding night in 1939.
Oatman is also home to Oatie the Ghost. William Ray Flour lived in this hotel when he first came to this town from Ireland to work as a gold miner. He sent for his family – his wife and two children – to join him, but none of them survived the journey. He died in 1930 behind the hotel after drinking himself to death, and “Oatie” still walks the hallways performing harmless pranks. On weekends, you can revisit the Old West and see free cowboy gunfights and showdowns on Main Street. For more information, please call (%20)768-3990 or write Oatman Chamber of Commerce, Oatman, AZ 86433.
Goodsprings, NV – Pioneer Saloon: Goodsprings is a hotspot for Hollywood movie-making with a tragic twist. The Pioneer Saloon was built in 1913 and has hardly changed. This is the home of the real Wild West Saloon with a stamped metal exterior designed to look like blocks. It features a cherry wood bar, which was constructed in Brunswick, Maine and shipped round the Horn to Goodsprings in the 1860s. One section was lost to fire, one section never arrived and the last section makes up the bar to this day. The original pot-bellied stove still heats the saloon and the bartender can entertain you with tales of how the bullet holes were made during lively poker games.
Tragically, it was here that Clark Gable sat, awaiting news of the plane crash that claimed Carol Lombard’s life in 1942. A small room at the side of the saloon houses artifacts and newspapers from the boom days, and a nearby old cemetery holds the remains of former residents. The saloon opens every day at 10 am and is easy to locate in town. For more information, contact the Pioneer Saloon at (702)874-9362.
Potosi Ghost Town: This is Nevada’s first ghost town. Settled by Mormon pioneers, Nathaniel V. Jones was sent to recover ore from the “Mountain of Lead” 30 miles southwest of the mission at Las Vegas Springs. About 9000 pounds of lead was recovered before smelting difficulties forced the closure of the mine in 1957.This made Potosi Nevada’s first abandoned mine. A smelter and rock cabins of 100 miners made up the camp.
More extensive mining operations resulted after the building of the transcontinental Salt Lake and San Pedro Rail Road (now the Union Pacific) in 1905. During World War I, Potosi was an important source of zinc.
Rhyolite Ghost Town is one of Nevada’s best-known ghost towns. Once a bustling metropolis of almost 10,000 residents, the towns of Rhyolite and Bullfrog were formed in 1904, when gold was discovered in the area. Rhyolite was named after one of the main minerals found locally. At its peak, the town held 50 saloons, 18 grocery stores, 8 physicians and half a dozen barbers, as well as 15 hotels. Due to loss of financial backing, it became a ghost town in 1911.
Rhyolite was built to last. You can still see the three story stone frame of the Cooks Bank Building and a two-story concrete school. The train depot marks the spot where one of three railroads ran through town. While the jail walls are intact, the roof has finally given way. Here, you can also see a house entirely built of 51,000 bottles that was built in 1904!
This is definitely a unique town, founded with gold and lost because of monetary restraints and the elements. For more information, please contact Friends of Rhyolite, PO Box 85, Amargosa Valley, NV 89020.
Searchlight, NV: This is a little town, just southeast of Las Vegas when you're heading toward Laughlin. G.F Colton first laid claim to this land when he discovered gold ore here on May 6th, 1897. Soon Colton’s Duplex mine brought others to the area. In 1900, the Quartette Mining company was formed and became the mainstay of the Searchlight district. A 16-mile, narrow-guage railroad was constructed to carry ore from the hillside down to the mill on the Colorado River.
Searchlight boomed between 1902 and 1907, and gold production reached over $4.5 million by 1940. On March 3rd, the Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad connected the town with the main Santa Fe Line from Needles to Mojave. By 1919, trains were operating over this line only twice a week, and in 1923, a severe desert storm washed out the tracks and train service was never restored.
So many of these towns bring back the reality of what may be. They were boom towns at their heyday, and they housed large populations of people searching for the American dream. Due to hard times, lack of financial backing, or changes in the rail system, they were largely abandoned and shut up. Now they are viewed as ghost towns. It sometimes makes you wonder what will happen to our so-called cities with the passing of time.
Sources:
Legends of America
Sharon Damon - Writing is my passion. I have published poetry and write for Examiner and other publications. I love my fascinating home, Las Vegas!
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