Day 128
Ghost Town Auto
August 1st, 2010
I'm walking across America.
That's the idea, at least. I'm walking westward from New York City for nine months or so. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be in Oregon when the clock runs out. If nothing goes according to plan, maybe I'll end up in Peru or Mongolia or Pennsylvania. You can read all about the details of my trip if you're so inclined.
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
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Here's my progress so far:
Creepy.
First again! Where is everyone!
Wikipedia’s page on Burke Idaho features almost this same exact photo!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke,_Idaho
Oops! Sorry Chris. you beat me!
; )
Here’s another link to Ghost Towns that shows tons of the old mining buildings. It does look creepy!
http://www.ripleysghosttowns.com/burke.html
I too thank you Deb – very interesting and a link goes into my “explore as time permits” folder. On our auto trip out West, we visited the Bodie, California Ghost Town (which is listed in the Ghost Town Index at the bottom of your link’s page). It was in a kind of a green grassy bowl depression.
Looks like someone filched the “auto” portion of the sign, since your link’s web photo was taken.
Oh – I see there were more buildings. I bet it was creepy to walk through – with no one living there and no one else around.
Although I would love to do this trip myself, being a guy must also add a greater amount of courage. Not that women aren’t courageous, but thugs might attack a woman but not a man. Anyway, this town is wonderfully historical, but at the same time creepy. Not to mention the woods Matt has traveled through in such isolation. I would have been afraid of bears, let alone a random “woodsman.” Anyway, this entire experience has been an incredible journey — one I will miss. Congrats Matt for crossing into Idaho. Be safe…
Wow…that’s very interesting. ‘Most contaminated site…” Oh boy….interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing those links deb!!
Did you walk a little faster than your usual pace when you passed by here Matt?
So these are the beautiful views? hmmm… I’m sure at their heyday there really were something. I would be creeped out to probably walking through a place like that. Wonder is any ghost hunting groups have done any work there? Just so much to wonder and wander about.
Ooo! With it’s rough history, I bet that would be awesome!
That does seem like an eerie place to happen upon, especially when you’re walking alone. Places like Bodie aren’t as spooky because they’re full of tourists. What an interesting history. Thanks, Deb!
That’s true – there were lot’s of people visiting Bodie, on the day we visited.
I love old abandoned places. If it was me, I would be tempted to stop and explore, and daydream about what once was…
It IS pleasant to visit places like this (or other historical sites) and wander around and WONDER (daydream)!
Looks like a ghost removed the “auto” portion :) How exciting!
I found a neat video on You Tube about Burke, which shows this exact spot in at least one pic from the 30s or 40s: cars parked in front of it and a big freight train barely squeezing through the middle of the street: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&v=kDuoObidwLY&annotation_id=annotation_628374
I’ll have to check that out at home – You Tube is a no-no (blocked) here at work!
Candice, you mean that at work, they actually want you to work? No way!!!! ;)
Thanks for that link Janice. Kind eerie looking at it and seeing the differences they show from yesteryear to today. And it was only about 50-60 years ago. How did it get so abandoned so fast? Wow.
This part of the trip is especially interesting to me. In 1941 my dad worked at the Homestake Mine in Lead.SD but when WWII broke out, they needed other minerals beside gold so they transferred him to the silver mines at Wallace, ID. We lived in Mullan,ID and I went to 3rd grade there. I have always wished I had gotten more information about those times while my dad was still alive. I have some old pics from that time and I have travelled through there but of course it has completely changed.
This kind of place fascinates me. People moved here, lived here, loved here, maybe raised kids here. And all of it was left behind. What was it like in its heyday? What was it like for the last person to leave?
This town looks fascinating. So bizarre that they put buildings and stuff so close to railroad tracks. I wonder who owns these properties now.
No need for an auto dealer in a ghost town as ghosts fly. This being a ghost/mining town; did anyone tell you to mine your own business and move on thru? Or did they promise you some ghostly experince?
In Maggie Valley, NC there is an attraction called Ghost Town. Maggie Valley is not to far from Asheville where the Biltmore House is. It was constructed for George Vanderbilt and opened in 1895. – a great place to visit. – http://www.biltmore.com/
http://www.smokymountainland.com/ghosttown.htm
Thanks everybody for all the links and info interesting stuff. Now my son wants to take a trip to Idaho….
Be safe Matt :)