Visit These 7 Ghost Towns in Nevada for History and Hauntings
My favorite way to get to Burning Man is a good old fashioned road trip across the Southwest. Some of the most unique stops along the way are the many dusty and crumbling ghost towns of Nevada.
These once-bustling areas often become ghost towns because the economic activity that supported them has failed - in this case, the mining industry. Due to their colorful history, many of these towns are also known for being haunted by spirits.
Goldfield
Goldfield is considered a living ghost town due to being abandoned and later repopulated after the mines closed. The once active area is now occupied by only 250-300 residents.
The Goldfield Hotel has been named one of the world's most haunted places in the US due to its large quantity of "permanent guests". Unfortunately, it became the site of many murders and suicides, and is now said to be haunted by several of the past guests who met their demise in its walls. It has been featured on several ghost-hunting shows, including Vanishing Point, Ghost Adventures, and Ghost Hunters.
Another place to check out is the Goldfield High School. Built in 1907, there are rumors of up to a dozen ghosts residing within its walls.
Gold Point
This living ghost town was named in 1927 by miner J.W. Dunfee who discovered gold in the area. Ranchers and miners thrived here until World War II when all gold mines were shut down. While it was re-opened on a smaller scale after the war, a cave-in made the cost of running the operation more expensive than the value of the ore being extracted; this resulted in the mine closing for good. There are about 50 buildings still standing, including the home of former Senator Harry Wiley and the post office that now serves as a museum.
Today, visitors flock to Gold Point to explore its well-preserved main street, Old West saloon, and the reportedly haunted Gold Point Ghost Town Bed & Breakfast. It's also an amazing place for stargazing, as it’s considered one of the darkest spots in Nevada.
Tonopah
Tonopah is well known as a place of hauntings, with several well-known ghosts inhabiting its hotels and storefronts. Perhaps the most infamous is the Mizpah Hotel, where "The Lady in Red" was murdered by a jealous ex-lover. She now haunts the 5th floor as well as the elevator, and isn't the Mizpah's only ghost. Additional sightings include playful children who run through the halls and murdered miners in the basement.
While already spooky due to its clown theming, the Clown Motel is also thought to be haunted due to its location beside the Old Tonopah Cemetery. There have been many stories of strange noises, odd lights, and even sightings of full-body apparitions.
Professional and hobbyist paranormal investigators come from around the world to search for Tonopah’s spirits, resulting in features on Ghost Adventures, the Travel Channel, and more.
Rhyolite
The town of Rhyolite has been abandoned since the early 1900s when businesses closed, the power was cut off, and the last train left the station. It was once a bustling town with a fire department, police station, hotels, stores, and a hospital. However, as a gold town centered around the mining in Bullfrog Hills, it was quickly abandoned once the gold ran out.
Now visitors can walk its dusty streets to glimpse into the past through the ruins of buildings such as the jail and the schoolhouse. They can also visit the famous Bottle House, built from 50,000 beer and liquor bottles, and explore the Goldwell Open Air Museum full of outdoor sculptures.
Berlin
This town, founded in 1897, was named after the Berlin mine that attracted people to the region for work. While the successful mine was eventually shut down by worker strikes, the small town received a second wind when scientists discovered the remains of several fossilized ichthyosaurs. This included one that was over 50 feet in length, the largest discovery at the time.
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, created in 1975, allows park visitors to check out some of the original preserved mining facilities in Berlin and see one of the most impressive fossil collections in the world, including the only complete ichthyosaur skeleton in the country.
Belmont
Belmont flourished in the 1860s and 70s as a mining town for silver and other ores. It grew to have four stores, two saloons, five restaurants, a livery stable, a post office, an assay office, a bank, school, telegraph office, two newspapers, and a blacksmith shop. When the mines shut down, many people took their roofs with them due to the high demand of timber at the time. Only the courthouse kept its original roof until it was renovated a more than a century later.
This town is actually a "semi ghost town" because there are still a few residents living amongst the historical buildings. It's completely off grid, with no electricity, gas or food nearby and just three open businesses. Visitors can easily spend an entire day wandering the ruins of the old miner cabins and mill sites, and Belmont has been featured on Ghost Adventures for potential hauntings in the still-standing brick courthouse. People travel from bordering states to visit Belmont for its serenity, history, and to enjoy some off-roading.
Pioche
This silver mining town is notorious for the gun-slinging, lawless nature when business was booming in the 1800s. This town was so dangerous that shoot-outs, outlaws and bandits claimed the lives of 72 people before a single resident died of natural causes. Today, the town has been mostly abandoned but about 1000 people still call Pioche home.
Visitors can explore this wild past at Boot Hill Cemetery, where outlaws were buried separately from normal townsfolk. You can also tour the original town jail, the Lincoln County Museum, and the Million-Dollar Courthouse, given the nickname due to the political corruption, missed payments, and interest charges that caused costs to balloon from it’s original $26,000 budget to $1 million.
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