For many reasons, a once bustling town can be abandoned.
It mainly happens with mining towns.
A person or company discovers a resource and makes a town so they will have employees.
They run out of the resource and then run out of the town.
The town slowly grows smaller until it is gone.
Poof, ghost town.
So hey most amazing fam, my name is Abbey and today I’m bringing you the Top 10 Mysterious
ghost towns
10 Bannack, Montana, USA.
Bannack was founded in 1862 when John White discovered gold on Grasshopper Creek.
Two years later it became the first territorial capital of montana, before it changed to Virginia
City.
At its peak it had a population of ten thousand people.
The Sheriff was accused by some of leading the ruthless band of road agents called the
innocents.
Early accounts claim the gang was responsible for the murders of over a hundred innocents,
though historical records account for eight.
The Sheriff and two deputies were hanged without trial in Bannack in 1864.
Twenty-two individuals were accused, informally tried, and hanged by the Vigilance Committee
(the Montana Vigilantes) of Bannack and Virginia City.
The city kept going until the 1930s with a fluctuating population.
But then in the 50s gold workings dwindled, and Bannack was declared a state park.
The last residents left in the 70s.
9 St. Elmo, Colorado, USA St. Elmo is the best preserved ghost town
in all of colorado.
And, it boasts the most hauntings and paranormal activity of any ghost town in the state.
It was settled in 1878 as Forest City, and officially became St. Elmo in 1880.
It was a gold mining settlement, and the Mary Murphy Mine recovered over $60,000,000 worth
of gold while it was in operation.
It’s not a complete ghost town since it is privately owned with part-time inhabitants
as of now.
You could even say the ghosts there are part-time inhabitants too.
The most famous one is Dirty Annie.
Her real name was Annabelle Stark.
She got her nickname dirty Annie after her mother passed away.
Annie and her brother were left to run the Hotel their mother used to while their father
was in the mines.
Since their mother was harsh and strict on Cleanliness, Annie would walk around in filthy
clothing with her hair in a mess as a form of quiet rebellion.
Some people say they have still seen her walking around the town.
Those who inherited the hotel swear the hotel went cold and all of the doors slammed shut
when their grandchildren were playing inside.
8 Bodie, California, USA This ghost town sprung up after William Bodie
hit gold in 1859.
Then, from 1877 to 1882, it had more than 10,000 residents and produced over $35 million
in gold and silver.
At one point there were reported to be 65 saloons in town, in addition to brothels,
gambling halls, and opium dens.
It was the wild west after all.
But sometimes that mix of money, gold, and alcohol would lead to unexpected fatalities.
Newspapers reported that townspeople would ask in the mornings “Have we a man for breakfast?”
Meaning ‘Did anyone get killed last night?’
Because that’s just how it was.
But not anymore.
Now there are over 200 abandoned wooden buildings in what is bodie state historic park.
The buildings are not restored, but preserved.
But you can see a little of the wild west yourself.
7 Cerro Gordo, California, USA Silver was discovered in Buena Vista Peak
in 1865.
Its discovery brought in miners, but also unsavoury characters.
At one point the death rate was one person per week.
There was no sheriff for miles around, and even the doctor fled the town, scared for
his life.
Basically, It had a reputation for death.
Once Union mine closed down in 1938 the population died down.
As of right now there is one resident.
Robert Desmarais, who is coincidentally a former miner.
He serves as the town’s unofficial caretaker.
6 Cahawba, Alabama, USA Cahawba became a ghost town shortly after
the civil war.
It was once the capital, before that title was taken away.
But what is really interesting to me is it’s ghost.
Pegues ghost.
In 1862 the story goes that a young couple was out for a walk on a moonlit night.
As they walked behind Colonel C.C.
Pegues home, a glowing ball of white light appeared before them.
Seemingly floating in the air.
This ball would dart first on one side of the walk and then on the other, approach close
enough to almost touch them, recede and disappear in the shrubbery, to suddenly be seen again
floating beside them.
Thinking the apparition was a trick of fancy or was caused by same peculiar phase of the
moon’s shadows, they turned to retrace their steps, when again it appeared in front of
them, going through the same gyrations.
The gentlemen now determined to test the materiality of the object; but just as he attempted to
grasp it, it darted beyond his reach and disappeared, to be seen no more that night.
Other people had seen it, and the glowing light, will-o-wisp or whatever it was from
then on was known as Pegues Ghost.
5 Kennecott, Alaska, USA Up and to the left in Alaska is Kennecott.
It was once a thriving 20th century copper mining town, and is now desolate.
From 1911 to 1938, Kennecott employed as many as 300 people in the mill town and 300 in
the mines.
It processed nearly 200 million dollars worth of copper, but once the copper tapped out,
the company that established the town withdrew quickly from the settlement.
Kennecott Copper Corporation left abruptly and left behind their equipment, buildings,
and belongings.
Now the National park service and tour operators offer guided access to several historic buildings
including the 14 storey concentration mill.
Where they apparently talk about the tales of lucky fortunes, frontiersmen, and tragic
endings that occured in the remote wilderness.
4 Shakespeare, New Mexico, USA Shakespeare was an old mining town that was
frequented by outlaws.
It was called Mexican Springs first, then Grant, then Ralston City when it became a
mining town in 1870.
When the silver started running low, the population began to run low as well.
In 1879, before it was about to be a ghost town, most of the land in the city was bought
by Colonel William G Boyle who gave the town a new start under the name Shakespeare.
Apparently Billy the Kid washed dishes at a hotel there, and two notorious cattle raiders
were captured and hung.
The records state that the two were hung because “Russian Bill stole a horse and Sandy King
was just a damn nuisance.”
Shakespeare closed down after a bigger town sprung up three miles away and the mines closed
after the depression of 1893.
It is now a national historic site.
Preserved as a monument to the real Old West.
3 Burke, Idaho, USA Mines were built in 1884 for silver and lead.
And then the town was built.
What makes this place cozy is that it is built in a canyon that at its widest measures 300
feet wide.
Because of this, the railroad went directly through town and shared the way with cars.
Whenever the train passed through, cars would have to pull over.
When the railway expanded, it ran right through the towns hotel.
A covered walkway connected the two sides of the building letting five cars of the Northern
pacific Railroad pass through each day.
But not everything was well and good in the cozy little town.
There were tensions between the miners and the owners of the mines.
In 1892 , gunshots broke out between union men and replacement workers in the mine.
The gunfight escalated and ignited a box of dynamite in one of the mills, causing six
men to die.
It got so bad that the governor of idaho sent national guards to burke and declared martial
law.
But it didn’t stop there, in 1899 when the Bunker Hill mining company fired 17 miners
for joining the union.
In response, the laborers dynamited the Bunker Hill mine and more lives were lost.
With all of the history, plus other natural disasters like fires and avalanches, there
is talk of paranormal activity in the area.
2 Terlingua, Texas, USA The Nickname is Terlingua ghost town and the
motto is the texas ghost town.
It’s both a ghost town, and not, at the same time.
In the mid 1880s, the discovery of cinnabar brought miners to the town, bringing the population
to 2000 people, but now not much is left of those mining days.
Now all that’s left is a ghost town of the Chisos Mining Company and several nearby capped
and abandoned mines.
The 2010 census said it had a population of 58 people.
Though this is mainly due to it’s proximity to Big Bend national park, so it’s mainly
a tourist destination.
There are reported sightings of Elvis singing at the cemetery.
So, it can seem like a las vegas in the desert.
1 Budville, New Mexico, USA Budville is a tiny community along Route 66.
It was established in 1928 by Howard Neal “Bud” Rice and his wife Flossie.
They made many businesses and Bud cozied up to local law enforcement.
Bud also overcharged at his autoshop and imposed “fines” for those caught in his speeding
traps.
That may have made people not too happy.
In 1967, a stranger, thought to be Billy Ray White, entered the trading post and shot and
killed Bud and a part time employee.
The assailant left with four hundred and fifty dollars.
That day changed the nickname of Budville to Bloodville.
Literally.
Budville was still occupied until 1979 when Buds widow Flossie passed away, now is a ghost
town bought and sold many times throughout the years.
But those are the top ten Mysterious ghost town I have for you today.
I’ll have you know that number two, Terlingua, is also home to both of the original Chili
Cookoffs.
The Chili Appreciation Society International and the World Chili Championship.
I thought I would mention it because I really like chili.
Comment below if you would ever investigate or maybe even live in one of these ghost towns.
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I’ve been your host Abbey, and until next time, have a good one, goodbye.