The Man Who Owns His Own Ghost Town

/ Merilee

There is a place in the Nevada desert, far from the blazing lights of Las Vegas and the sprawling, traffic-clogged freeways and drama of Los Angeles that is peaceful.  Silent.  A place that time has forgotten, and where the remnants of history are scattered on the ground like an outdoor museum.

Cow. Copyright Merilee Mitchell-2

It’s a ghost town that is owned by two men.  The population is 8.

Mailboxes. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

A photographer friend of mine sent me a message during my last trip to Death Valley, telling me that I really should take a side trip to see this place.  So I veered off of my plans in Death Valley, packed up my car with water and my Nikon and headed out into the vast expanse of Nevada, in gale force winds, to find the ghost town.

Bent Grill. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

It’s down a long, lonely highway where the signs read “Open Range” and where I nearly ran into an elderly cow that stubbornly stood in the middle of the road, unwilling to yield to my Yukon.  As I approached the town I saw mailboxes and evidence of people who might be living there, a few cars and trucks, an American flag flying.  I saw no one, yet had the uncomfortable feeling that I was being watched.

Christmas Lights. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

I quietly got out of my car with my camera and walked, looking, feeling the place and wondering why I saw no one at all.  I wanted to ask someone, anyone, if I had permission to take photos, as that is what you do.  You never trespass or do as you please while photographing.  It just isn’t done.  But since no one was around, I started taking photos of sites that seemed benign.

Esmeralda. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

There were several old fire trucks, cars and other vehicles that had disintegrating tires and interiors.  They had baked in the desert sun for too long.  All I could hear was the slap, slap, slapping of the American flag as it was being beaten in the wind.  No other sounds and no sign of people anywhere.  Yet I still felt I was being watched.

Ghost Car. Copyright Merilee Mitchell-2

As I rounded a corner of what was a saloon, the “knowing” that I was being monitored by unseen eyes made me uncomfortable, and as I shot a photo of a skull I decided it would be best to leave.  It’s not wise to be a lone woman in an abandoned town out in the middle of nowhere, and I didn’t want to disappear into a void, as if I had been sucked up into an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Skull. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

Just as I started to leave, an old car pulled up with a man inside.  He rolled down his window and said, “I’m gonna have to confiscate that camera, you know.”  I apologized for taking photos and asked if it was all right.  He laughed and said he was joking, but added that he had been watching me for some time.

Ghost Town Man. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

“I’ve been watching you, you know.  I always know when someone comes up that road.  No one comes up here, so when they do, I like to watch them.  See what they’re up to.  I was watching you taking photos.”  I told him that I could feel that.  I knew.

Ghost Town Man 3. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

He parked his car and invited me into the saloon where he sat down and told me the history of the town.  He owns it, along with a partner.  Sometimes it’s used for movies, and there are times of the year when the population goes up.  Snowbirds like staying there. But for the most part, the population is 8.

Saloon Girl. Copyright Merilee Mitchell-2

It’s an old mining town originally established in the 1880’s that has had an on again, off again history with silver and gold mining.  Now it’s just a ghost town, but with a handful of hardy people living there.  Far away from anything.

Schramm. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

I asked him how he likes living in a place that is so detached from any metropolis, where the nearest grocery story might be over 50 miles or more away, no doctors, hospitals.  Nothing.  Just old buildings and antiquities in a place tucked way out in the Nevada desert, in a state of arrested decay.

Sodium Cyanide. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

He loves it.  He loves the feeling of freedom it gives him and the fact that he isn’t monitored by the government, isn’t bothered by the sheriff, where all residents are armed and able to take care of themselves if the need arises, which it doesn’t.  Because no one goes there.

Stop. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

I sort of liked that.  Not that I want to live in a ghost town.  But I understand that need for freedom and the attraction to the wide open spaces of the desert, of Nevada.  A place where you can see for miles and miles and all you are surrounded by are sage brush and fluffy, white clouds, where the wind blows and you see no one else.

Dead Truck. Copyright Merilee Mitchell

I thanked the man for allowing me to photograph his town, for telling me his story, for being kind and letting me have a glimpse of what it’s like to live in a place like that.  A place that’s free, wild and full of history.

Open Road. Copyright Merilee Mitchell-2

I headed back down the lone highway where I saw the elderly cow, still standing steadfast in the middle of the road, my windows down and the wind blowing, smelling the sage brush and thinking that I will never forget the man who owns his own ghost town, knowing that I will go back someday.  Because I like that feeling of freedom that only the desert can give you.  He understands.  And I love that.

194 thoughts on “The Man Who Owns His Own Ghost Town”

  1. what a refreshing look at what some would call the ‘valley of the dead’…quite alive after all..wouldn’t mind living there myself…alas…thanks for the look—see…

    • Thanks, Sharon! Yes, they do, but they are rare. There is another place that I visited once, and I need to go back as I heard that it’s collapsing. I have the great blessing of knowing people who share their secrets with me 😉

  4. What stunning photographs – Each and every one of them. I’ve been looking at lots of photo blogs today and yours is the outright winner for me 😀

  5. Pingback: Ghost Town Man. | The Gravel Ghost.

  6. Nice. I almost went to Death Valley one time …. I walked outside the hotel in Vegas and said,”WOW it is HOT. I think it is too hot to go to Death Valley ….”

    🙂

    • Thank you! The very best time to go to Death Valley is November or January. February is nice as well, but after right about now, it’s just too hot. I’ve been there when it’s 125 and it takes your breath away!

  7. The image in the fire truck side mirror was a nice touch. Might be fun to experiment with color washes on these, make them look like hand-painted old tintypes.

  8. This is so cool!!! But, weren’t you freaked out of your mind when the man showed up and told you he’d been watching you? That’s really creepy, even if it happened to turn out okay this time

  9. thanks for these great pictures, I like the “mood” and also the nice scale of greys that shows everything and at the same time reinforce the idea of intense sun ! Great !

  10. Reblogged this on idées du moment and commented:
    j’adore ces photos. l’ambiance, et aussi le joli travail sur l’échelle de gris qui renforce le tout ; tout est visible et en même temps les blancs sont intenses et renforcent l’idée de chaleur et de soleil intense !! Top !

  14. I’m not sure I could stand living like that. I like my privacy and all, but I like being able to go out and see people when I want to see them. It takes a unique sort of person to live that sort of lifestyle.

    • Indeed, it does. I’m not sure I could do it, either, yet I have a fascination with it and an appreciation for the character one must have in order to do it. He is a fine man who I admire.

    • This is why I live a life straddling two worlds. One foot in Los Angeles, and the other in the desert. The first is a life of normalcy, suburbia, laundry and shopping at Trader Joe’s. The other foot is in a world that is not unlike slipping through The Looking Glass, into a place that is wild, free and filled with interesting characters 😉

  20. I love the way its written. It’s so dramatic, yet so honest. The pictures are incredible! There’s definitely something about black-and-white pictures that give it that intense feeling. As for the town itself, it seems so eerie in its solitude, and the curiosity it brings also seems oddly welcoming.

    • Thank you. That means a lot to me. It is a very eerie place as are most ghost towns and old mining sites in the west. It’s addictive for me to experience that sense of mystery and to feel the layers of history there. My goal is to capture that feeling with the camera so others can have a similar experience through images.

  22. This is really brilliant, and the types of stories journalists and bloggers should strive to tell. Such compelling photographs too. Really well-done.

  23. Beautiful Pictures! You did the place justice with your amazing pictures! I have loved going there on a weekend and enjoy “everyone” in town.

  25. Great post. You have amazing creative gifts. I read in the comment thread that you straddle two worlds: LA and the desert. That is my wish, too! See you there, one fine day 🙂

  27. the narration was beautiful and so were the photos. i’d love to visit that town one day, and i’m not even a fan of ghost towns!

  28. I love this article! I’m quite an adventurous myself… and a freedom seeker, one of the places i really wanna see is DEATH VALLEY! and i also wanna know the history of that place… Thank you for sharing this. Love those pictures! 🙂

      • Creepy sells them short. They are so much more than that! I have just written a post regarding the frontier an the wild, and I think that a few of these pictures match the notions I was trying to convey.

      • I totally understand what you are saying. And I’m gratified that I have been successful in incorporating that vibration into my photos. It means a great deal that you “get” it 🙂

  30. Those are some simpley amazing black and white shots. Good thing that you removed the distraction of colour to bring out the true essence of the ghost town. Some of the shots gave me goose bumps. Simple because I felt a touch when I saw them. Keep up the good work.

  32. Pingback: The Man Who Owns His Own Ghost Town. | Aditya's Blog

  33. You do have an exquisite eye Ghost. I myself wouldn’t want to live there but you certainly captured this with an essence you can call your own. It feels so lonely looking at that.

    / David

    • Thank you! If you feel lonely looking at the images, then I did it right, because that’s exactly how it feels when you are there.

      • Well done,.As an artist myself I can really appreciate your efforts of evoking emotion in others through your work thus understand you feeling a sense of accomplishment seeing confirmation upon that which you strive for Merilee.

        I look forward to see what else you have in lined up in the near future.

        / David

  36. interesting to read this after just writing a post on my own blog about solitude etc. great pics…and I love the fact that he invited you to share for a while.

  38. Wow. You have talent and heart and both drew me in and struck me when I looked at the first photo and when I read your first sentence. You took me there!

  39. I loved this post and I’m so glad the person watching turned out to be friendly. Thank you for sharing your experience.

  42. Very interesting. I’d never think that such places still exist. It also reminded me the first episode of the twilught zone. Very good pictures and story . Thanx for sharing.

  46. We live in Henderson NV, a suburb of Las Vegas. Our habit is to take day trips about once a month. There are quite a few places like the one mentioned here that we’ve found. Cima, Elgin, Kelso. A couple of oases, too. Like Alamo NV. I’d be very content to live in a ghost town as long as I had netflix and spotify, my wife and my dog. My dog wouldn’t mind. But my wife feels like she needs to see the kids and grandkids on a regular basis.

    • I lived in Las Vegas for awhile! I loved it. Well, not the “Vegas” part so much, although it was amusing in a weird way, but it was the desert that I fell in love with. I was very sad to have to leave Nevada. To me, Nevada is one of the greatest states in the Union. Because of its vast, free openness…

  47. enchanting pictures as is the narrative. am still amazed – a town with just 8 people. oh wow…
    kudos for such a brilliant job. thanks for sharing.

  48. The photos are absolutely stunning. Plus, they are of a subject that is fascinating for me, anything abandoned, old/old-fashioned, etc. 🙂 It also makes me itch to shoot photos with my Rollei and B&W film. Great photos, and congrats on Freshly Pressed! 🙂

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