Over the past several years, more and more people have discovered the pleasure and challenges of “collecting” ghost towns. There are ghost towns in every state, but some of the most picturesque and intriguing of all ghost towns are to be found in the mountains, foothills, and valleys of Northeastern Washington State. Collecting Northeastern Washington ghost towns is a tough job, because this part of our Evergreen State was the heart of mining and boom towns that once housed thousands of miners, prospectors, and settlers. Now, these historic settlements are uninhabited and, in many cases, a challenge to locate.
There are many reasons for collecting ghost towns. The reasons vary with individuals and places, and the variations seem endless. The common thread that binds all the reasons, however, is the sense of adventure to be had in seeking out lost and forgotten boom towns of yesteryear. Simply finding such spots is enough to drive some ghost towners wild with excitement. Such people love to hear of a new ghost town site, research its history and location, seek out its site, and add it to their collection of such relics from the past that they have visited. For some, an interest in photography, GPS trekking, hiking, or being in touch with nature leads them into hunting for lost ghost towns. Avid history buffs can also easily fall prey to the habit of seeking out ghost towns.
Many of the ghost town sites are in beautiful locations that are enhanced by decaying, ramshackle ruins. It is fortunate that most of the avid ghost town seekers value the sites highly and therefore scrupulously leave the sites as they found them. It is unfortunate that others also come to ghost towns—many just to vandalize such unprotected places.
It is good that ghost towns attract the attention of interested history buffs, for as is true of all man-made things, the ghost towns do not last forever. Nature destroys such places completely. Winds tear things loose and blow them every which way. Deep snows pile high on roofs, already weak with dry rot and sagging from many former snows, which yield to strains and fall. Once the roofs go, the walls do not stand long, and in a few short years there is only a rotting pile of wood, which eventually rots back into the earth, while new growth hides the displaced earth of foundations. The relentless truth of nature, with large and small bites, gnaws endlessly at the abandoned works of man, and the wilds reclaim their own.
The ghost town site, emptied of almost all evidences of its boom town existence, is becoming the most common kind of ghost town experience in Northeastern Washington. A few cellar pits, portions of retaining walls, a few hints of raised stone foundations, and, as one looks closer, endless bits of scattered glass and metal tins are the remains of better times.
Today’s ghost town collector needs to be more interested in the site than in the town itself. Such a person’s imagination must put flesh back on the scattered wooden skeletal remains. The history buff who can successfully do this can walk in the footsteps of thousands of faceless miners who sought their fortunes and can bring the ghost town sites back to life by rebuilding the images of those miners and the boom town buildings in the mind’s eye.
If collecting ghost towns sounds like fun, try it. Come to historic Northeastern Washington State and seek among the foothills, mountains, and valleys for remains of ghost towns abandoned long ago.
An example of the treasure that the author has uncovered exploring the Boom Towns of Washington State
