All the Spookiest (and Historic) Ghost Towns of America

It’s Halloween which means adorning yourself in costumed attire, indulging in candy, visiting haunted houses, snuggling up to a scary movie…or visiting one of the hundreds of crumbling (and sometimes haunted) ghost towns in the U.S.

There’s nothing quite like the eerie solitude of a community that once was. These places of the past once held booming populations tied to a rich background of a burgeoning economy, but have since faded away to dust and ruins; hopes and dreams blown away with the wind. Left over are nearly 4,000 abandoned towns, some of which hold compelling tales that remain within brittle walls.

Geotab, smart transportation and telematics technology company, has put together an interactive map showcasing historic ghost towns across the U.S. gathered from data pulled from 3,800 of these towns. Explore the multitude of forgotten hamlets within a 25 to 50-mile radius of your location. Focusing on history and the structural remains left, they’ve put together 10 compelling examples of American ghost towns; the most of which are in Texas (511), California (346) and Kansas (308).

“These ghost towns are places that Hollywood has seeded in our heads, where outlaws ride into town while miners gamble away newly acquired fortunes,” says Peter Ling, professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham. “A trip out west is rarely complete without a visit to a ghost town, giving those places a second chance to thrive; heritage tourism can be a motherlode they continue to mine indefinitely.”

Here are the top five:

1. Berlin, Nye County, Nevada

Nearest city: Hawthorne, NV

“Named by German prospectors who came looking for gold, Berlin was a company mining town. Established in the 1880s, the town was largely abandoned by the 1910s after the mine closed in response to strike action. The well-preserved structures are now part of Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, known for fossil discoveries of a prehistoric marine mammal.”

2. Kennicott, Valdez-Cordova, Alaska

“Kennicott was established as a mining town in 1903 to take advantage of the area’s copper deposits (the emergence of electric power having increased copper’s value considerably). The mines were depleted by 1938 and the town largely abandoned. Since the 1970s, the town has become an increasingly popular tourist destination.”

3. Fort Jefferson, Monroe County, Florida

Nearest city: Key West, FL

“More of a ghost fortress than a ghost town, Fort Jefferson’s construction began in 1846 as part of Florida’s defenses against piracy. It also served as a prison during the Civil War, then became a quarantine station and a navy refuelling point before it was abandoned in 1906 due to hurricane damage. Fort Jefferson has been a National Monument since 1935 and is open to tourists. It continues to be the largest brick structure in the U.S.”

4. Garnet, Granite County, Montana

Nearest city: Missoula, MT

“In the 1890s Garnet was a thriving mining town with a population of over a thousand served by up to 13 saloons. The community emptied as miners left for World War I. A revival of gold mining in the 1930s was halted by World War II, and the town has been abandoned ever since. Around 30 buildings remain today, and an annual Garnet Day allows visitors to experience life in this 19th-century mining town.”

5. Bodie, Mono County, California

Nearest city: Bridgeport, CA

“Established as a mining camp in 1859, Bodie boomed after sizable gold discoveries during the 1870s. The town was in decline by the 1910s; the newspaper ceased publication in 1912, and the railway was abandoned in 1918. The last mine closed in 1942 as dynamite and other resources were redirected towards the war effort. Today, the town is open to visitors with around 110 structures still standing.”

See the full list at geotab.com/ghost-towns.