Ghost Towns and Lost Mines

A ghost town can best be explained as a town that has been abandoned, frequently due to the economic activity that maintained it failed or by cause of a natural or human provoked disaster such as war. This word is at times used in a deprecative sense to incorporate areas where the existing population is notably less than it once was in the past. It may perhaps be a partial ghost town such as Tonopah, Nevada or a neighborhood where people no longer live, like Love Canal. A tourist ghost town has important financial activity from tourism, such as Oatman, Arizona or abundant sites in Egypt, but cannot uphold itself apart from tourism.

 A true ghost town is completely deserted and abandoned, such as Bodie, California, but often will see visitors. A ghost town might also be a place where very little or nothing is left above the soil surface, for example Babylon. Habitually a ghost town will still have noteworthy art and architecture, such as Vijavanagara in India or Changan in China. The majority of large countries and regions have places that can be considered as ghost towns.

Some ghost towns are tourist attractions, such as Kolmanskop and Elizabeth Bay, outside of Luderitz. This is in particular true of those that conserve out of the ordinary architecture.

In the case of lost mines, there are some that are very popular types of legends. The mine involved is generally of a high-value commodity such as gold, silver, or diamonds. Frequently there is a map (in the United States sometimes called a "waybill") allegedly showing the position of the mine. Some of the most common reasons that the mines were lost have to do with:

• The mine was discovered and worked by a recluse who did not want to make known the setting, and passed away before revealing the location.

• The mine was worked on by native peoples who did not want to reveal the location to other people.

• The mineral deposit was found in an isolated location, and when the person or persons wanted to return to the location they were no longer able to find it again. 

• The person that discovered the area died of hunger, thirst, or exposure shortly after discovering the deposit, and the body of this person was found with rich ore examples in his possession.

• Hostile natives might have killed the discoverers or discoverer. Occasionally the natives covered up the entrance to the mine.

• In Spanish colonies in the New World, a lot of lost mines were allegedly worked under the direction of Jesuit priests prior to their abrupt expulsion in 1767.

• A number of lost mine legends have a historical basis; however there are some that do not have any. But the temptation of lost mine legends is demonstrated by the number of sites that exist on the subject, and the popularity of sites, magazines and publications such as Lost Treasure.

The ghost towns talked about in the West go all the way from totally abandoned villages to real reproductions and restorations – some of them have been completed with inhabitants dressed in mining clothing and Mother Hubbards. Obviously it is a lot easier to get to the restored towns and they offer something interesting and entertaining to look at. There is one that is called Calico and is located near Barstow California, and it was restored by the Knott family of Knott’s Berry Farm. There is also another one that is in Virginia City located near Reno, Nevada. Some of them are worth checking out.