Ghost town

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Dave

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One of the stops on our drive was the Ghost Town of Malhuer City. It was a mining town that was started in 1870. It was the replacement for Eldorado which was a couple miles away but this site was closer to the Eldorado ditch. A hand dug ditch of 134 miles that brought water here to wash the gravel which was full of gold. At its peak over 1,000 people lived here. By 1900 that number was down to 200. A fire burnt the ghost town down in 1957 so all that remains of the town are some rock foundations and a well maintained cemetery. It was surprising to find this well cared for cemetery in the middle of nowhere. Grass is mowed. There was a sprinkler going watering the grass. A two rut dirt road leading into and out of the area. The nearest ranch house is 7 or 8 miles from there and I could count them on the fingers on one hand. The last picture I turned my back on the cemetery and took a picture. You can see there is nothing for miles. Nothing left there but the ghosts.










 
I just love exploring old mining towns... My uncle who farms in Reese Valley Nevada has several old mining structures on his farm. It is pretty neat to explore considering tourist haven't looted everything around. One of the ramble shacks still has canned goods in the cupboards. Always thought someone left in a hurry!!
 
There are a lot of old mining town here that just don't exist any more. We drove past 5 others on our drive. Two of them there is nothing there at all. The others just have a ranch house or two. They were all booming after gold was discovered around here in 1862. Heck my little town could be classified as a ghost town. In 1920 there was 3 hotels, a drug store, general store. a couple of bars, a stock yard at the railroad, and a lot of people. Now the counter at the post office is only open from 8:00 to 10:00 AM. There are no businesses. There are more empty houses in some state of disrepair than houses that are occupied. When the gold mines shut down in 1920 things started going down hill.
 
I grew up in Bralorne BC, 2 towns next to it (Bradian and Pioneer) were both ghost towns.. Pioneer mines was a hard rock mine, the town was at 4000 ft elevation or something and the tunnels went down below sea level. Over 4 million ounces of gold came out of that mine alone. When we lived there in the 80's the mine was still standing, Penstocks were somewhat there.. about a 36" penstock made from creosoted fir.. probably about a mile long.. not a single knot in the entire length!

Here's a pic, I'm guessing from about 15-25 years ago, it's been mostly dismantled for the last 10 years
https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/pioneer-mine-near-lillooet
 

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