12 United States Ghost Towns That Will Make Your Skin Crawl
While Americans are mostly familiar with the ghost towns of the Wild West and early industrial years, the places once filled with life have long since been left behind, leaving eerie reminders of their past.
These deserted locations now stand as cold reminders of what was from the deserts to mountainous regions. The ghost towns provide a spine-tingling trip into the past. Here are 12 ghost towns in the United States that will make your skin crawl.
Bodie, California
Bodie, a one-time booming gold mining town, is frozen in a state of ‘arrested decay.’ The abandoned town located near the Nevada border was once home to 10,000 people. It is now rumored to be haunted. It’s rickety wooden buildings that creak in the wind and dusty lonesome streets make this ghost town a creepy destination.
Centralia, Pennsylvania
Once a bustling coal mining town, Centralia has become a smoky wasteland as an underground fire, which began in 1962, burns incessantly beneath it. Much of the ground is still unstable and dangerous from the fire that burns steadily underneath the town. Today steam rises from cracks in the earth, creating an eerie atmosphere. Over time most of the town’s structures have disappeared into the ground. Centralia’s post-apocalyptic atmosphere could make for a good campfire story.
Rhyolite, Nevada
Rhyolite, the site of a once thriving mining town near Death Valley in the early 1900s, fell victim to the mine’s collapse and the population disappeared almost overnight. Today there are crumbling remnants of what were once grand structures — a train depot and a bank. This decaying town lies silence and would send chills down the spine of any lone traveler.
Cahawba, Alabama
Alabama’s first state capital, Cahawba is an abandoned shell of what it once was. A hotspot for paranormal enthusiasts, it was populated by the town’s folks in the mid-19th century, but flooding issues forced its people to leave. With its ghostly charm, moss-covered ruins, crumbling buildings, and spooky cemetery, many visitors believe it is haunted and reported strange sounds and sightings of apparitions along its deserted roads.
St. Elmo, Colorado
Long before the Civil War, a boom mining town called St. Elmo tucked away in the Colorado Rockies attracted miners seeking strike prices, but the town was abandoned in the early 20th century. Now a site rumored for its paranormal activity and featuring in several ghost stories, it attracts many ghost hunters and visitors eager to experience the paranormal. St. Elmo is arguably one of the best-preserved ghost towns in Colorado.
Terlingua, Texas
Terlingua was a mining town that sat near Big Bend National Park; after the mercury mines closed in the 1940s, the town faded away. To this day, the landscape is a haunting display of dusty adobe ruins and empty streets. Though some residents have returned, traces of its haunted past still linger. This small town is a distinctly eerie spot with ghostly ruins and the occasional howl of desert winds.
Virginia City, Montana
The preserved ghetto of a once booming gold rush town, risen out of the ground in the 1860s now a ghost town, where you can feel and smell the history in the empty saloons and rickety wooden buildings. Much of its eerie charm has remained intact although it has become partly restored as a tourist attraction. Ghost stories about restless spirits lurking in the town’s leftover corners draw ghost hunters eager to see the ghosts of prospectors still wandering the streets looking for lost fortune.
Kennecott, Alaska
Down among the snow and ice on the Alaska tundra, Kennecott was a once prosperous copper mining town but was deserted in the 1930s. The red buildings stand stark against the snowy backdrop, a remote beauty, broken, and decaying. Its silent structures, which once hummed with life, are now surrounded by an unsettling and haunting atmosphere. This isolated small town feels forever frozen in time.
Garnet, Montana
Garnet is one of Montana’s best-preserved ghost towns, abandoned in the early 1900s, when the gold ran out, many of its wooden buildings, hotels, and saloons, stand, like an eerie snapshot of a bygone era. The echoes of its past live on in Garnet’s isolated dilapidated structures. The town seemingly waits silently as though expecting its long-gone inhabitants to return.
Goldfield, Nevada
During the gold rush, Goldfield was the ‘largest city’ in Nevada; now it’s a ghost town, with only a handful of residents still living there. All that remains are abandoned structures sullied with decay like the Goldfield Hotel, once a symbol of grandeur, and now a weathered ruin. Paranormal activity has been frequently reported. Ghost sightings are common in the old hotel. Goldfield’s desolation makes for a very spooky tale.
Jerome, Arizona
Jerome was a thriving copper mining town perched on the side of a mountain, but after the industry collapsed it was nearly deserted. These days, it’s one of Arizona’s most haunted places, with tales of ghostly figures and strange noises in its old buildings. Its creepy allure is further heightened by its crumbling architecture and its spooky legends.
Thurmond, West Virginia
Today, Thurmond is almost deserted with only a handful of residents left. The town’s abandoned train station and boarded-up buildings add to the eerie atmosphere. Stepping back into a forgotten chapter of American history is walking through its deserted streets. Thurmond is one of West Virginia’s most spine-chilling ghost towns because of how eerily still it is.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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