Ghost Towns

November 28, 2002 11:50 AM

Ghost Town Gallery 1300 Pictures from 174 Ghost Towns and historic places. (They've also got maps.)
posted by Fabulon7 (16 comments total)

also wonderful is www.ghosttowns.com [WARNING: soul-shatteringly hideous MIDI... turn speakers off]

Pretty good maps on this site, too.
posted by cadastral at 11:53 AM on November 28, 2002

I laughed when I saw this one.
posted by Degaz at 11:57 AM on November 28, 2002

hehe - wow, that did look kinda like southpark...
who cleans these deserted towns? and how come no one has robbed them of antiques yet?
posted by dabitch at 12:32 PM on November 28, 2002

Some of them are preserved, and some of them have been robbed.
posted by Fabulon7 at 12:39 PM on November 28, 2002

Whether there are ghosts or not in these towns, methinks I see a face in the shadow and light on the right side of the wall of this building.

Nice link, fabulon!
posted by ashbury at 1:16 PM on November 28, 2002

I visited Bodie, CA when I was a kid, and remembered the long boring drive out to the middle of nowhere to see it. To a 10 year old, driving an hour off the main highway just to see some old buildings didn't sound appealing, until I saw them.

The town is impeccibly preserved and I still recall the way the town appeared as if everyone up and left one day, leaving everything just as it was. I've longed to head back there and take some photographs of the place, thanks for the link and reminding me its still there. I just might stop there this winter when I'll be vacationing in Yosemite.
posted by mathowie at 1:35 PM on November 28, 2002

beautiful. thankyou Fabulon7.
posted by kv at 2:51 PM on November 28, 2002

Nice link. The ghost towns were interesting, and the Colorado skies are MetaFilter blue!
posted by hama7 at 3:00 PM on November 28, 2002

Not to be redundant, but thank you Fabulon7, this is EXACTLY the kind of link that makes MetaFilter so important to me! This made my night!
posted by jonson at 10:29 PM on November 28, 2002

Here lies
George Johnson
Hanged by mistake
1882

He was right
We was wrong
But we strung him up
And now he's gone
posted by lucien at 10:30 PM on November 28, 2002

Seeing Ludlow on the list struck me as odd, simply because it's known as the mid-point between Barstow and the tri-state area of Needles/Bullhead/Laughlin, which means that it's very popular for gas, restrooms, and snacks.

But being that it just means there are a few gas stations, yeah, it's a ghost town. With impeccable service.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:40 AM on November 29, 2002

Great stuff Fabulon7 - and great ideas for day trips for those that live close enough. I've been to a few ghost towns in my travels - Cerillos NM, listed on your link and Scenic SD listed in Cadastral's link. There's something very compelling to me about abandoned places.

Madrid NM is a picturesque little artists' community on the Turquoise Trail that is a reclaimed ghost town.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:30 AM on November 29, 2002

Boy, some places just clear out for Thanksgiving.
posted by dhartung at 6:35 AM on November 29, 2002

Excellent site. The abandoned towns brought to mind the abandoned part of Famagusta in Cyprus. This area was evacuated by its 40,000 person population in 1974 during heavy fighting when the turkish invaded the northern part of the island. Meals were left on tables, furniture was left in houses and brand new 1974 model cars were left in showrooms where they still stand today: because of political wrangles Famagusta became a kind of no-mans-land and no-one ever went back. Unfortunately, the only photos that I could find were here.
posted by andyHollister at 7:29 AM on November 29, 2002

FYI, a Cyprus peace plan is moving toward acceptance by both sides, including territorial concessions by the Turkish Cypriot side. Famagusta's families may return someday.
posted by dhartung at 1:54 PM on November 29, 2002

Thanks Fabulon7, love visiting these sites.

I'm glad I didn't spend the night in here.


I've photographed abandoned homes on Manitoulin Island in Ontario and always wondered why folks just pick up and leave like that.


Ah, loons and photo's of the surroundings start here

Sorry, not mine, I'd have to get scanning....
posted by alicesshoe at 12:06 AM on November 30, 2002