What is a ghost town and why do I love them so much?

If you’ve been following my travel videos, you’ve probably noticed I seem to enjoy what is often referred to as a “ghost town”.

What is a ghost town exactly?  Well, it’s not necessarily a place filled with ghosts.  It could have some places that feel like they’re haunted, but it’s more about somewhere that is abandoned or nearly to that point. 

In my opinion, a ghost town usually falls into one of 3 categories:

--A place that is a shadow of its former self (maybe 20% or less of what it used to be).  This could be a town that used to have 1,000 people and now has 100.

--A place that has a few structures left and only a few people living in the area.  Usually, these areas used to be small towns and are now unincorporated.

--A place that is totally abandoned, having virtually nothing left, and usually aren’t on maps anymore.

The first town I made a YouTube video of was the mother of all ghost towns – Picher, Oklahoma.  It was abandoned because it wasn’t safe to live there anymore due to contamination.  It was abandoned relatively recently so much of the town is left in remains.  If you haven’t seen that video, I encourage you to check it out here:  Picher, Oklahoma

After I made that video, I started thinking about where else I could explore.

I grew up in a very rural area of southern Ohio and didn’t realize I lived near many ghost towns.  As our society advances, more people move to the cities and less people live in these communities.  As I learn about many of the places I visit, I find that the average age of people living there is much higher than normal.  Younger people are not generally moving into these towns, and as the older generation passes, the towns will eventually disappear.

It’s really no one’s fault.  People tend to live where the jobs are, and bigger cities have more job opportunities nowadays.  But it is sad to see these once proud and busy communities fade away.  That’s one of the reasons I have been trying to document as many as I can before they are no longer there.  I also love to find old buildings and imagine what the downtown areas looked like in their heyday.  Every one of these small towns has a history and a story to tell.

While there are ghost towns all around the country, Kansas seems to be the capital of ghost towns.  This is because in the frontier days settlers would head west in search of land an opportunity and, often, Kansas would be as far as they would get.  The extremes of weather and missed opportunities of business would be major factors for a young town to quickly disappear.  The dangers of encroaching upon Native American lands were constant as well.  Another reason for the frequent failure of a town would be the railroad.  People would start a town in hopes the railroad would pass through, and if it didn’t, the town would up and move to another location along where the tracks were laid.

The pioneering spirit is very interesting to me now that I live in Kansas.  Imaging these settlers packing up their lives into a wagon and heading into the unknown is fascinating.  And to see evidence of their efforts still around today is even more interesting.  In 50 years, most of these places won’t be around anymore so I’m trying to see as many as I can while I can.

If you’ve made it this far then you must be somewhat interested in the topic as well.  Here is a list of towns I have made videos of and then ones I am planning to make videos of in the future (this means I already filmed them, I just haven’t edited them yet).

I’ve made 12 videos about 34 “ghost towns” so far:

-Picher, OK

-Treece, KS

-Douthat, Cardin, Zincville, Hockerville, OK

-Joyland, Wichita, KS (not a town but an abandoned amusement park)

-Trousdale, Hopewell, Byers, Zenith, KS

-Lerado, Castleton, Marshall, Waterloo, KS

-Peterton, Miller, Arvonia, Silkville, KS

-Arrington, Kennekuk, Padonia, White Cloud, KS

-Levanna, Utopia, Point Pleasant, OH

-De La Palma, Murrays Corner, New Hope, Liberty, OH

-Mormon Row, UT

-Iowa Point, Eagle Springs, Bendena, KS (to be released Sept 23)

 To watch any of these videos you can go to my YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/Travelwithawiseguy

I’m planning on making the following 8 videos over the next few months

-(Kansas) Geary City, Doniphan, Kickapoo, Hickory Point

-(Montana) Bannack, Laurin, Virginia City, Nevada City

-(Montana) Fort Shaw, Old Chico, Aldridge, Jardine

-(Colorado) Alma, Buckskin Joe, South Park, Como, Boreas

-(Arizona) Fairbank, Tombstone

-(Arizona) Gray Mountain, Two Guns, Twin Arrows

-(Utah) Thistle, Bullion Canyon, Johnson Canyon

-(Ohio) Spann, Lucy Run, Elk Lick

 

I’ve made a lot of different kinds of videos in the past year on my YouTube channel, but these are my favorites.  I know they’re not always the most popular, but they are the most fun for me to do.  Hopefully some of you have learned something new as well!

 If you keep watching, I’ll keep making them.  And if you stop watching … I’ll probably keep making them anyways :)