List of ghost towns in Nevada facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Nevada is a state in the United States known for its many ghost towns. Most of these towns were once busy mining communities that grew very quickly, like a "boom," when valuable minerals were discovered. These are called boomtowns. When the mines closed, people left, and the towns became abandoned. Other towns were built to process minerals or to supply the mining camps.

In Clark County, some towns along the Colorado River are now underwater. They were covered by the waters of Lake Mead or Lake Mohave when dams were built.

What is a Ghost Town?
- Types of Ghost Towns
Nevada's Ghost Towns
Images for kids

What is a Ghost Town?

Ghost towns are places that used to be busy communities but are now mostly empty. They can look very different from one another. Some might have no buildings left at all, while others still have many buildings standing. A few might even have a small number of people living there, or they might be museums for visitors.

To help us understand them better, ghost towns are often put into different groups:

Types of Ghost Towns

Barren Site

This means the town no longer exists.
It might have been destroyed, covered by water, or has just turned back into empty land.
You might only find a few hard-to-see foundations or old building parts.

Neglected Site

At these sites, mostly just piles of rubble are left.
You might see old, broken-down buildings, often without roofs.

Abandoned Site

Buildings or houses are still standing, but almost all of them are empty.
No one lives there, except maybe a person who takes care of the site.
The town is no longer used, except for one or two buildings.

Semi-abandoned Site

Buildings and houses are still standing, but most are empty.
A few people might still live in the town.

Historic Site

Buildings and houses are still standing.
The site has been turned into a historical park, a museum, or a place for tourists to visit.
It might still be a busy place, but it has fewer people than when it was at its peak.

Nevada's Ghost Towns

Many interesting ghost towns can be found across Nevada. Here is a list of some of them:

**Nevada Ghost Towns**
Town	Other names	County	Established	Disestablished	Status	Notes
Alturas		Clark	1861			Located in El Dorado Canyon near the Techatticup Mine in the Colorado Mining District.
Aurora		Mineral	1860		Neglected site	Aurora's population dropped a lot in 1865. Big fires in 1866 and 1873 destroyed much of the town. By 1880, fewer than 500 people lived there.
Austin		Lander	1862		Historic site	Austin's mining was busiest in the late 1860s.
Beatty		Nye	1905		Historic site	Beatty is known as a way to get to Death Valley.
Belleville		Mineral	1872 (1915)	1892 (1918)		By the late 1880s, water pipes helped nearby Candelaria. Belleville could not compete and was empty by 1892.
Belmont		Nye	1865	1922	Semi-abandoned site	The old courthouse in Belmont is now part of Belmont Courthouse State Historic Park.
Berlin		Nye	1897	1911	Historic site	This town is kept safe within Berlin–Ichthyosaur State Park.
Bermond Station	Frenchman	Churchill	1920	1926		This site was also called Frenchman or "Frenchy's" before it became Bermond Station.
Blair		Esmeralda	1906	1916	Neglected site	This was the site of Nevada's largest stamp mill, which crushed ore.
Bristol Wells		Lincoln	1872	1905	Abandoned site	By 1893, Bristol Well was not used much. A plant to treat copper ore was built in 1900 but only ran for two years.
Broken Hills		Mineral	1913	1940	Neglected site	Broken Hills was mainly a mining site for Joseph Arthur and James Stratford.
Bullfrog		Nye	1904	1907	Neglected site	Bullfrog was founded near Rhyolite and competed with it. Rhyolite became more important before it also became a ghost town.
Bullionville		Lincoln	1870	1882	Barren site	This town had a good water supply for mills. But when nearby Pioche built its own water system, Bullionville was slowly left empty.
Cactus Springs		Nye	1910	1935		Cactus Springs is now inside the Nellis Air Force Range.
Callville		Clark	1864	1869	Submerged under Callville Bay of Lake Mead	This was a steamboat stop and a county seat for a short time.
Candelaria		Mineral	1864	1939	Neglected site	The Northern Belle mine here produced $15 million in silver.
Chafey	Dun Glen	Pershing	1908	1913		This town was first called Dun Glen.
Charleston		Elko	1876	1956	Abandoned site	Charleston is a ghost town in Elko County, Nevada. It is along the Bruneau River.
Clifton		Lander	1862		Semi-abandoned site	Located just west of Austin.
Coaldale		Esmeralda	1894	1993	Neglected site	A gas station closed around 1993 because of leaking fuel tanks. Without it, the town faded away.
Cobre		Elko				By 1937, only about 20 people lived in Cobre. Today, not much is left except a large cinderblock engine house.
Colorado City		Clark	1861		Submerged under Lake Mohave	This was a steamboat stop near the mouth of El Dorado Canyon.
Columbus		Esmerelda	1865	1881	Neglected site
Como		Lyon	1861	1930s		This mining town was used on and off. All activity stopped in the 1930s when a sawmill closed.
Cortez		Lander	1863	1930		George Hearst mined in this area in the 1860s.
Crystal Springs		Lincoln
Currant		Nye	1865	1871
Daveytown		Humboldt	1910	1930
Deeth		Elko	1869	1915		This was a train depot and a place for local ranchers to trade.
Delamar		Lincoln	1890	1909		In 1897, Delamar had 3,000 people.
Delano		Elko	1872	1927		This town was a small gold-mining area that produced gold from the 1870s to the 1960s.
Dixie Valley		Churchill	1861
Dun Glen		Pershing	1862	1894		Later became Chafey.
Eagleville		Mineral	1885	1915	Neglected site
El Dorado City		Clark	1863	1880s	Barren site	A mining camp in El Dorado Canyon. It was the site of the El Dorado Mills.
Etna		Pershing	1865	1872
Fairview		Churchill	1905	1919		At its busiest, Fairview had 27 saloons.
Fish Lake Valley		Esmeralda
Flanigan		Washoe	1909	1973
Fort Churchill		Lyon				This fort is preserved within Fort Churchill State Historic Park.
Frenchman		Churchill	1906	1920		This site was also known as Frenchy's and later as Bermond Station from 1920 to 1926.
Genoa	Mormon Station	Douglas	1851		Historic site	Originally called Mormon Station. Now part of Mormon Station State Historic Park.
Golconda		Humboldt	1869	1908	Semi-abandoned town	Golconda's hot springs were a famous landmark for travelers heading west.
Gold Center		Nye	1904	1919	Barren site	Gold Center was important for water for nearby Bullfrog and Rhyolite. It once had a large brewery.
Gold Point		Esmeralda
Goldfield		Esmeralda	1902		Semi-abandoned town
Goodsprings		Clark	1900
Grantsville		Nye
Hamilton	Cave City	White Pine	1868	1931		Hamilton was first called Cave City because early settlers camped in nearby caves.
Hardin City		Humboldt	1858	1866	Neglected
Hiko		Lincoln	1865	1882	Semi-abandoned town	Hiko is a Native American word meaning "white man's town."
Ione		Nye	1863	1930s		At its busiest, Ione had 100 houses and 500 people.
Jacobsville		Lander	1859	Late 1870s		This was a Pony Express station and the first county seat of Lander County.
Jarbidge		Elko	1909
Jessup		Churchill	1908
Johnnie		Nye	1890	1935	Barren site	Water was hard to find here. It was brought from a spring four miles away by donkeys.
Johntown		Lyon	1853	1860s	Barren site	This is thought to be Nevada's first ghost town.
Jungo		Humboldt	1911	1952	Barren	It had a post office from January 1911 until May 1952.
Lahontan City		Churchill	1911	1915	Neglected	This town was built to house workers building the Lahontan Dam.
Lander		Lander	1880	1921
Logan		Lincoln	1865	1930
Louisville		Clark	1861	1862		Located in El Dorado Canyon near the Techatticup Mine.
Lucky Jim Camp		Clark	1862		Barren site	Located in El Dorado Canyon near the Techatticup Mine.
Marietta		Mineral	1867	1894	Neglected site
Mazuma		Pershing	1907	1912		A sudden flood killed at least eight people and destroyed most of the town.
Metropolis		Elko	1909
Midas	Gold Circle	Elko	1908	1942		The town was first called Gold Circle. But when the post office opened, officials changed the name to Midas because Nevada had too many towns with "gold" in their names.
Millers		Esmeralda
Miriam		Churchill				A train station for the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Mountain City		Elko	1870		Semi-abandoned town
Nevada City		Churchill	1916	1919		This was a co-operative community.
Ocala		Churchill
Osceola		White Pine
Palisade		Eureka	1868	1910
Palmetto		Esmeralda	1866	1920s	Neglected site	Miners named the town after local Joshua trees, thinking they were like palmetto trees.
Parran		Churchill	1910			This was a telegraph station and post office. The post office closed in 1913.
Pine Grove		Lyon	1866	1918	Abandoned site	Several buildings are still standing here.
Pioneer		Nye	1908	1931	Barren site	The post office was open from 1909 to 1931.
Poeville		Washoe	1864	1880		The post office was open from 1874 to 1878.
Potosi		Clark			Barren site
Quartz Mountain		Nye	1905	1922	Barren site	This town is located inside the Nellis Air Force Base Bombing and Gunnery Range.
Ragtown		Churchill	1854			Leeteville might be the same place.
Rawhide		Mineral	1907		Barren site	The Rawhide Mining Co. has removed any remains of the town. It is now an open pit mine. A big fire in 1908 caused $1 million in damage.
Rhyolite		Nye	1905	1916	Abandoned site	The post office closed in 1913.
Rio Tinto		Elko	1932	1948		A few houses and the school still remain.
Rioville	Junction City	Clark	1869	1906	Site is now under Lake Mead.	Originally called Junction City, Rioville had a post office from 1881 to 1906.
Rochester		Pershing	1912	1942
Ruby Hill		Eureka	1873	1910
Ruth		White Pine
Saint Joseph		Clark	1865	1868	Barren	This town burned down in 1868. The town's name and people moved to what is now Logandale.
St. Thomas		Clark				Submerged beneath Lake Mead. Its ruins can be seen when the lake's water level is low.
Salt Wells		Churchill		2007		This site had a borax plant, a bar, and a gas station.
San Juan		Clark	1862			The camp was abandoned just weeks after it was started.
Scossa		Pershing	1931	1937		This was one of the last important mining camps in Nevada.
Seven Troughs		Pershing	1907	1918
Silver Canyon		Lincoln
Simonsville		Clark	1865	1870s	Barren	Originally called Mill Point, located west of Overton Airport.
Spruce Mountain		Elko
Star City		Pershing
Stillwater		Churchill	1862
Sulphur		Humboldt			Neglected
Tempiute		Lincoln	1868	1957		In the 1950s, the Lincoln mine here was a main producer of tungsten in the U.S.
Tenabo		Lander	1907	1930s
Treasure City		White Pine	1869
Tybo		Nye
Unionville		Pershing			Semi-abandoned town
Ute		Clark				A railroad siding and the site of a silica mill in the 1940s.
Vernon		Pershing	1905
Vya		Washoe
Washoe City		Washoe	1860	1910s	Neglected site
White Cloud City	Coppereid	Churchill				Also known as Coppereid.
White Plains		Churchill	1879	1909		It was described as having "no vegetation" and "vast expanse of dirty white alkali."
Wonder		Churchill	1906			The post office closed in 1920.

Images for kids

A view of Aurora, Nevada.
Austin, Nevada, in 1868.
The old courthouse in Belmont, Nevada.
Buildings in Berlin Ghost Town.
Fairview and Bermond Station in Nevada, 1910.
A stamp mill in Blair, Nevada, around 1907.
A charcoal kiln at Bristol Wells.
Broken Hills, Nevada, around 1920.
Inside the Bullfrog Jail.
Loading tailings at Bullionville, around 1880.
Callville Bay Marina at Lake Mead.
Main street in Candelaria, Nevada, around 1880.
Chafey, Nevada, in 1908.
A view of Charleston, Nevada.
Coaldale Junction.
Cobre, Nevada.
Borax refining tanks in Columbus, Nevada, 1870s.
A horse-powered whim in Como, Nevada.
The Cortez Mill Complex.
Crystal Spring, Nevada.
A panorama of Currant, Nevada.
Buildings along Deeth-O'Neil Road in Deeth, Nevada.
A newspaper office in Delamar, Nevada.
Dixie, Nevada, in 1910.
Dun Glen, Nevada, in 1880.
Fairview, Nevada, on July 4th, 1906.
A map of the Flanigan townsite.
Fort Churchill.
Frenchman Station, Nevada, in 1910.
The Golconda School in Golconda, Nevada.
A mill foundation in Gold Center, Nevada.
A street in Gold Point.
The Esmeralda County courthouse in Goldfield.
Hamilton, Nevada.
The mill of Hyko Silver Mining Company, Hiko, Nevada.
Ione, Nevada, in 1900.
Placer mining in the 1880s at Johntown, Nevada.
Mapping near Jungo, Nevada, 1931.
Water rhyolites near Logan Springs, Nevada.
Mazuma, Nevada, in 1908.
Lincoln School in Metropolis, Nevada, 2016.
Gold Circle, Midas, Nevada, in 1907.
White Plains, Ocala, and Miriam, Nevada, in 1910.
A view across Mountain City, Nevada.
An abandoned car in Palisade, Nevada, 2011.
Palmetto, Nevada, a ghost town.
Parran, Nevada, in 1910.
A steam boiler in Pine Grove, Nevada, 1880.
Ruins in Pioneer ghost town.
Rawhide, Nevada, in 1908.
The John S Cook and Company building in Rhyolite, Nevada, 2004.
Moving tents in Rochester, Nevada, 1913.
Ruby Hill, Nevada.
A steam shovel in Ruth, Nevada, 1910.
A building foundation in St. Thomas, Nevada.
Seven Troughs, Nevada, in 1907.
Abandoned buildings near the Monarch Mine on Spruce Mountain.
Stillwater, Nevada, in 1910.
The Shoshone Range in Nevada.
Wonder, Nevada, in 1907.

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List of ghost towns in Nevada Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.