Why Nevada has so many ghost towns

Nevada is home to over 600 ghost towns, many of which are the remnants of the gold rush era of the 1800s and 1900s. Some of these ghost towns are well known, like Rhyolite, but others are just coordinates on a map — hidden like secrets to the true history of Nevada.

I first became intrigued by these ghost towns, many of which are abandoned mining towns, when I learned that Nevada is still the top producer of gold in the US, accounting for more than 70 percent of the gold in the country. This made it clear that gold wasn’t just a fad: Mining truly shaped Nevada.

So to learn more about what made mining such a powerhouse industry in the state, I took a road trip through northern Nevada to try and find some of these hidden ghost towns and learn about the boom and bust cycles of mining. Along the way, we even stopped by a ghost town that’s still partially occupied by a dozen residents.

Through visiting a few of these abandoned mining towns and speaking to historians about the technology and infrastructure that made mining a key industry of the state, our video pieces together a rich and fascinating story of the development of the state of Nevada.

We had a chance to speak to a lot of great experts and historians for this piece. Here’s some links to their work:

This video is presented by Travel Nevada. Travel Nevada doesn’t have a say in our editorial decisions, but they make videos (and adventures!) like this one possible.