NEVADA GHOST TOWNS

After investigating the Goldfield Hotel, the Mizpah and the Clown Motel, (in which we debunked a long told tale of a entity in one of the rooms at the Clown Motel), we went out to explore the ghost towns nearby and try to catch some more spirits there. Unfortunately, the ghosts were not seeing visitors on this day cause we never seen even a hit of one in the following towns.

There was Beatty, an unincorporated town along the Amargese River in Nye County, Nevada. It is located about 90 miles away from Tonopah and approx 120 miles from Vegas. Established in 1902,and covers 175.6 miles of land. In the 2010 Census, there were a reported 1010 population left in Beatty. Almost, but not quite a ghost town, we found no ghosts there.

Then there's Rhyolite, 4 miles east of Beatty on State Hwy. 374. Gold was discovered in 1905 and within 6 months had a population of 5000. By 1920 it had already became a ghost town and everyone was gone. A ghost town with no ghosts we could find.

On to Candelaria, which was founded in 1864. The town failed because it had no water supply. The mill was forced to operate as a dry mill, which in turn left a haze of toxic dust in and around the town, causing many of the residents to perish from what was known as "MINERS CONSUMPTION". By 1935 almost all residents had left, after the closing of the post office. We were cautioned and we pass that on to you, not to enter the town becaue it was unsafe. Guess ghosts didn't feel safe there either cause they didn't make themselves known to us.

Columbus is rumored to also be a haunted ghost town but none of the ghosts were into haunting that day. It became a town in 1865 when Borox was discovered. By 1881 the Borox had ran out and the town failed.

Out team then went on to Bonnie Claire, another ghost town. Started in 1906, it replaced an earlier town know as Thorpes Wells. In Dec. of 1971, the post office closed it's doors. The town is located adjacent to Nevada State Prison, where our team of investigators are going in Feb. of 2023. New mining activity occured from 1940-1954, then the town was abandoned until 2005.

Next came Lida which was considered Nevada's first settlement. It became a town in 1873 although prior to 1867, it was mined by the Indians and the Mexicans. By 1905 only 300 people remained. Today Lida is a privately owned land with a very small population and no services and no ghosts as far as we could tell.Their post office officially closed on Dec. 14, 1918.

Onto Blair, which became a town in 1906. It is a real ghost town now, although the ghosts never showed themselves. It prospered until 1917, and by 1920 it was all but deserted. For the best perspective of Blair, head first to the top of the mill with a pair of binoculars to look and see all the different foundations that are there. These same foundations are hidden from view if you are any lower and near the building foundations. We wondered if the ghosts left when the residents did.

The last ghost town on this trip was Belleville. It was founded in 1874. Here murders, fights and playing pratical jokes were abundant. It was famous for it's Wild West atmosphere. Today, no one lives here and strangely enough we had no luck finding any spirits remaining here either.

So, while very interesting, there was a decidely absent of spirits in these towns. But we will go again, next time we are able and see if that changes. At this time, ghost towns is a inaccurate description in our books.