Ghost Towns of the Southwest - ABC News

The Amargosa Hotel was once a hub of activity, the Spanish Colonial-style buildings filled with workers from the Pacific Coast Borax company.

Once the mine shut down, the people left, leaving the U-shaped hotel and the opera house attached to it at the center of what is now considered a ghost town.

"There wasn't much reason for people to stick around, other than to stay at the hotel or visit the opera house," the Amargosa's Bob Muldowney said during a tour of the opera house. "Now, that's all that's left."

Death Valley Junction wasn't the only town to feel the boom and bust of the Old West mining days.

Ghost towns dot the landscape all across the southwestern United States, once-thriving cultural hubs abandoned and left in shambles.

Many are still fairly well-preserved, though, and offer visitors a chance to see a piece of history — even if it is in pieces.

Here are a few of the more popular ghost towns in the Southwest:

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BODIE, CALIFORNIA

Located near the Nevada state line east of California's Yosemite National Park, Bodie is one of the most famous ghost towns in the United States, in part because it's so well preserved. The town boomed during the Gold Rush days, with an estimated 10,000 residents in 1880, more than 60 saloons and a red-light district. Once the mine shut down, so did the town, all but abandoned by the early 1900s. Today, its 100-or-so buildings are maintained by the California parks system, which protects the town in "an arrested state of decay," keeping the buildings standing but making few other alterations. Bodie is located 13 miles (21 kilometers) off Highway 395 down a dusty, bumpy road in an isolated area, so make sure you have plenty of gas. Also, beware if you take off with an artifact from town — a curse reportedly comes with it until the item is returned. Details: http://ift.tt/1nLHwTa .

GLEESON, ARIZONA

Originally called Turquoise, Gleeson is one of several ghost towns near the famous Wild West town of Tombstone. Native Americans first mined turquoise in the area and settlers found copper, lead and silver in the area in the late 1800s. A fire destroyed 28 buildings in 1912, but the town was rebuilt and continued to thrive until the mines shut down around 1940. A handful of people still live in the area, but it still has the ghost-town feel with numerous buildings in various states of decay. Ruins include a hospital, a saloon and store, a jail, the foundation of a school and a cemetery. Courtland and Pearce also are nearby, part of what is known as the Ghost Town Trail. Details: http://ift.tt/1nLHwTl .

RHYOLITE, NEVADA

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