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The school house in Bannack, a Gold Rush-era ghost town in Montana. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
5 Art-Inspiring Ghost Towns
13 janvier 2025
Madrid, New Mexico, my hometown (pronounced MA-drid by us locals), was once a booming coal town. Its heyday was during the 1920s when thousands lived here. There was even a minor-league baseball team. But, when other fuel options arose, demand for coal fell. Madrid lost its mine. It lost its industry. And so, with nothing for them, the residents left, and the once lively town became no more than silent streets and empty buildings. A ghost town was born. Although Madrid experienced a renaissance in the 1970’s and 90’s, many once-thriving towns across the U.S. still sit completely deserted.
But their ruin is subjective. For artists like my father, ghost towns are unique destinations, places where something once brand-new and shiny succumbs to entropy, re-consumed by nature. And capturing these rare moments, these rare places where Mother Nature is reclaiming what was once hers, is something special in itself.
Get your paintbrush, ink pen or camera ready, and discover these real-life ghost towns in the western U.S.
1. Mogollon, New Mexico
A former mining town like Madrid, Mogollon was built by gold and silver miners. In the 1890s, the population spiked to 6,000 residents, a thriving town rich with metals. Today, it’s a ghost town. All that remains is a decaying saloon, a general store you might see in a spaghetti western and homesteads rotten down to the studs.
Though there is beauty in the abandoned, there’s something slightly eerie and apocalyptic about decades of untouched industry rusted over and left behind. Explore, photograph, paint or draw these scenes like my father, T.C. Wall, did.
Closest airport: Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ)
2. Boggsville, Colorado
Tucked away in Colorado’s southeastern corner, a half day’s drive from Denver, Boggsville was a 19th-century settlement that, in the 1860s, had about 200 residents – including one you may have heard of: Kit Carson. But when Carson, a legendary fur trader, died in 1868, the fur trade, and the town, followed suit. Today, Boggsville remains open to visitors as a National Historical Site along the famous Santa Fe Trail. Perfectly preserved artifacts and a hacienda-style house gives visitors a true glimpse into what this site looked like at its peak – perfect for an artist looking to recapture this moment in time.
Closest airport: Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
3. Swansea, Arizona
Not to be confused with the Welsh city or the English football team, Swansea, Arizona is another southwestern town built for mining. Though mines opened Swansea, it was the railroad that kept this place alive. Hundreds of residents and neighboring mining communities relied on the Arizona & Swansea Railroad to transport people and supplies.
But the town’s end came only a few decades after its founding during the Great Depression. As the entire country struggled, Swansea took its last breath, and its population zeroed out, cementing its ghost town status. If you’re headed to Swansea to paint, draw or photograph the remnants of this once-thriving railroad town, be sure to use a vehicle with four-wheel drive. The unpaved roads are known to be ruthless.
Closest airport: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
4. Bannack, Montana
When the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s hit Montana, the epicenter was Bannack. As the site of the state’s first major gold strike, and eventually one of the first territorial capitals, Bannack’s prime was a population of over 3,000. But as the Gold Rush came and went, so did Bannack’s residents. What remains is over 50 well-preserved buildings frozen in time. But each year, on the third weekend of July, Bannack comes alive again just for a few days as historic re-enactors try to recapture the town’s golden magic from a century ago.
Closest airport: Yellowstone Airport (WYS)
5. Clarion, Utah
Clarion might have had the shortest life on this list, but its story is unique and important. Lasting only 5 years, from 1911 to 1916, Clarion was a settlement in central Utah, a hundred miles from Salt Lake City. Like its neighbor to the north, Clarion was founded by religious pioneers: a group of young Russian Jewish immigrants who set out to establish a “utopian” agrarian society capable of self-sufficiency.
Unfortunately, the arid Utah climate and soil made agriculture impossible, and the 150 colony residents either returned to the East Coast or joined in with the small but growing Jewish community of Salt Lake City. What remains are crumbled foundations of failed homesteads and the memory of an ambitious and feted experiment to create a small piece of heaven on earth.
Closest airport: Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
Ghost towns are woven into the fabric of the American West’s history. We keep their memory and spirit of hope and prosperity alive by visiting, documenting and preserving them. So take a flight, (or possibly two with a small connector), and maybe even a short drive to discover the magic hidden behind these crumbling walls and deserted streets.
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