There is a forlorn, abandoned basketball court, and a fireplace—all that’s left of a small house. Ruidoso, NM, is the next big destination for remote families. Known as Ghost Town in the Sky, this abandoned Wild West-themed amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, has seen as many ups and downs over the decades as its old roller coaster. Their green lights twinkle, a warning to airplanes taking off from a nearby airport. 36600 Ghost Town RoadYermo, CA 92398Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Wild West Town is a wild west themed amusement park in Illinois. In the 1970s, the construction of new highways made Route 66 obsolete, and Amboy’s fortunes fell. Chandler – Last Gunfight of the Old West. In the 1950s, it was reinvented by Walter Knott, the very man who brought us Knotts Berry Farm. Mellonsfolly Ranch was … Today, the picturesque tourist trap is all charm, with no true grit (or ghosts) in sight. The town was named after a woman named Olive Oatman, who was kidnapped by an Apache tribe and then sold as a slave to Mohave indians. Most look like they have been there for many years. In 1966, he donated the restored—and heavily sanitized—town to the county of San Bernardino. Once they arrived, they saw a massive infrastructure campaign in progress, which would eventually make California City the third-largest city in the state by landmass, a title which it still holds. When you pull into Amboy today, the first thing you notice is the music. There is much to see in California City, in the Kern County desert, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. What it's like now: Dodge City's economy is ce… Some, like Palm Springs, flourished, but countless others failed. Corral. Next door is the glassed-in hotel lobby, its cracked Mad Men-esque furniture fading in the sun. Visit the Boot Hill museum, located on the site of the historic Boot Hill cemetery, for a look at the 60,000 artif… The names in this generator have been based on real life Wild West town names. The era referred to as the Old Wild West began following the Civil War in 1865. The once-bustling depot was closed by Union Pacific in 1985. Pioneertown’s influx of young residents has driven some people away. You’ll probably still lose, but at least you don’t have to keep your head on a swivel for gunslingers. A replica Wild West town deep in rural New Zealand has been put on the market -- and if you have $7.5 million to spare, it's yours. One was the boarded-up depot’s caretaker O.B. It has a walk-in bank vault from 1964, as well as an abandoned gold mine underneath the bar. Not all names will be as grim as the latter two though, as there are plenty of more pleasant sounding names, as well as many variations in between. Wooden boardwalks lead you alongside restored 19th-century buildings, including historic saloons, and plenty of museums. Two of the motel rooms are open. In 2005, the restored depot was opened as the visitor center for Mojave National Preserve. If you've ever had to "get out of Dodge," you may understand what this wildest of Wild West towns was like back when Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson were patrolling the streets. Those that didn’t, that outlived their usefulness yet still exist, are now faded snapshots of the time and place when they were at their best. The dust in the air chokes. Founded in 1877 by prospector Ed Schiefflein, who discovered silver in the area, Tombstone was the setting of perhaps the most legendary event in Wild West history: the Gunfight at the O.K. Deadwood – Rough & Tumble Old West Town. At its height during World War II, the population of Kelso reached around 2,000. Oatman is filled with wild donkeys roaming the streets, dusty roads, and shops with old wooden porches. Names like 'Ruby City', 'Deadwood' and 'Tombstone'. It was truncated during the 1964 renumbering and its signage removed in 1974. Read time: 9 mins. Dodge was nicknamed the “Queen of the Cowtowns” due to the herds of longhorns shipped there, but it’s probably better known for its abundance of gunfighters and brothels. Soon it became the lynchpin for several small towns sprouting up around the area’s largest mines. There are few Wild West buffs who haven't heard of Deadwood, SD, and this town remains one of the true wonders of Old Wild West. “They would just look at him. The hills nearby are covered in sleek white windmills. A popular pit stop for hikers to take an, um, “lode” off along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, South Pass City is one of Wyoming’s most highly trafficked Old West ghost towns. The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” wafts through the air. And if you happen to be visiting the “Rodeo Capital of the World” between June 1 and August 31, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t see a rodeo. These friendly green aliens seem to outnumber the human residents of California City. In addition to the trail, you can check out the Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indians Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum. At Roy’s Motel and Café, an old man sits by the gas station: is he working? The promise of wealth lured outlaws, gamblers, and gunslingers who transformed the town into a vibrant and often dangerous place. According to the history, “Kelso was perfectly situated to fill both roles, since it is located near the bottom of the 2,078-foot grade, and had a reliable water source from a nearby spring in the Providence Mountains.”. Buses of potential buyers were brought to California City. Here’s why. A hub for the meatpacking industry, Dodge hosts the Dodge City Days annual festival — a 10-day festival featuring a longhorn cattle drive and the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo. Saccharine hits from the 1950s and ’60s fill the dry desert air, providing a disconcerting soundtrack for an exploration of the once-bustling stop. Perhaps most well-known as the setting of HBO’s popular Deadwood series, the town is now a National Historic Landmark with a wealth of preserved history. After gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, people flocked to the Deadwood area to make their fortune. Wild West in Los Angeles . And on Mane Street, Old West cottages built for movies are being lived in by real people—and an art installation even adorns one private yard. Across the street is an old post office, and an abandoned church where an organ sits in its back room, waiting to be played. Be careful though, if you break the law in our town… The gunfights, rodeos, tumbleweeds, and dusty saloons of America’s untamed frontier might sound like cinematic tropes, but they’re also a very real part of the country’s history. Anywhere that calls itself the “Rodeo Capital of the World” should probably be on your Wild West bucket list. Play Wild west town for free on Kizi! The Cody Nite Rodeo takes place every night and is truly one of the most unique rodeo experiences you’ll get in the West. These days Silverton is a little more respectable. Calico is a desert ghost town, theme-park style. Along with the silver boom in Creede, so came the boom of Ouray. You’ve probably heard of some of Deadwood’s most famous residents, like Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock. More than 500 mines were soon in operation, producing the biggest silver load in California history. Union Pacific planned to tear down the depot, but it was saved by a group of historians and environmentalists. Corral and view reenactments of the famous gunfight, or even spend the day at the Tombstone Wild West Theme Park where there are daily gunfight shows (no, you don’t have to participate). A ghost town is a term used to describe towns that failed to stand the test of time and died off the same time the gold mines stopped producing gold. The town has grown over the years, now boasting around 14,000 people. In 1881, John McBryde and Lowery Silver discovered silver ore in the dusty mountains near Wall Street Canyon. For true history buffs, you can actually visit the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane at Mount Moriah Cemetery. At home, at school, or on the road, we offer a great selection of games! But by far the most compelling area is the Calico Graveyard, where mountaineers and prospectors from Calico’s past—and modern-day boosters and cowboys—are buried under handmade markers, their graves covered in desert rock. But the boom, as nearly always, was followed by a bust. A half-hour guided tour will bring you through the mine shaft, which has proven to be one of the town’s most popular tourist draws. Los Angeles is the home of the film industry, especially during the era when many of those great old western films and television shows were made. Behind the post office is a small wood-frame house, where it appears someone still resides. Okaton – A Prairie Ghost Town Many of Wild West City’s buildings are accurate reproductions, loaded with period items and antiques. Sounded like a real roller coaster ride. Finally, a place to stretch their legs, breathe some fresh air, and have a drink or 10. There are a whopping 17 museums, among them the mining and blacksmithing Way It Was Museum, Courthouse Slammer & County Museum, and the Comstock Gold Mill. If you’d prefer something a little less morbid, there are plenty of period museums like the Days of 76 Museum and the Adams Museum. The Silverton experience wouldn’t be complete, however, without riding on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a historic coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive that travels through canyons and forest between Durango and Silverton. Rawhide Wild West Town, Chandler Rawhide Western Town & Event Center/Facebook A Western-themed amusement park, Rawhide has attractions such as live gun shows, gold panning, and chances to rides horses or burros. Many neighborhoods have only three or four homes, with plenty of land in between. Don't worry about being challenged to an old-fashioned gunfight at high noon, though. Dodge City is much more quaint these days. In the general store on Main Street, there are fat peppermints and candy cigarettes. The American Wild West is featured so often in Hollywood films and on TV that many of us feel like we know it very well – the cowboys, the gun … Just outside of Barstow in the Mojave Desert—designated the state of California’s official “silver rush ghost town” in 2005—Calico started its life as a lawless 19th-century mining camp. Soon, the new settlement of Calico in Wall Street Canyon sprang up, filled with young adventurers from places as disparate as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and China. Many lot owners, who felt they had been sold a false bill of goods, simply abandoned the land and stopped paying property taxes. Sumpter – Queen City Ghost Town. Just west of the town of Lone Pine on Highway 395, at the foot of Mount Whitney, are the Alabama Hills. Below are our five favorite California desert ghost towns. Once again, it serves as a friendly way station, selling maps, candy bars, and nostalgia to visitors battling the cruel desert sun. The rudimentary depot first opened in 1905 to aid Union Pacific trains chugging across the desert to and from Las Vegas. Instead of housing drunkards and crooks, the old Silverton jail is home to the San Juan County Historical Society Mining Heritage Center. Of course, steam locomotives needed water. 87520 National Trail Highway Amboy CA, 92304. There are lots ideal for middle-class family homes. There is a vacant, sunbaked house, with an overturned chair, peeling paint, and wallpaper that makes the walls look like a Rothko. mobile app. 21000 Hacienda Boulevard California City, CA 93505. Fast-forward to 2018, and new pioneers have come to town—trustafarians and Burning Man enthusiast types who co-mingle with the rough-hewn desert lizards that have long called the small community home. “I fell in love with the desert,” he said, echoing the sentiments of those who still called Kelso home. But shortly after, it began to dwindle as nearby mines closed and the switch from steam engine to diesel rendered the depot’s purpose as a way station obsolete—since trains no longer needed assistance climbing steep grades. The expansive structure included “a conductor’s room, telegraph office, baggage room, dormitory rooms for staff, boarding rooms for railroad crewmen, a billiard room, library and locker room.” The depot quickly became the social center of tiny Kelso, the site of “Christmas parties, square dances, church services and trials.” It was a beacon of hospitality in unforgiving terrain. Mar 15, 2020 - Explore Free Range Living's board "Wild West Towns" on Pinterest. They’re easy to drive to, fascinating to explore, and may leave you thinking about which one you’d like to live in, and which one you’d like to haunt. This includes personalizing content and advertising. The entire town of Tombstone was awarded National Landmark District status in 1961, as “one of the best preserved specimens of the rugged frontier of the 1870s and 1880s.” If that’s not enough incentive to visit, it’s also nicknamed “The Town Too Tough to Die,” which is the most Wild West moniker you could possibly imagine. The term “ghost town” has an ominous tone, but most of the ghost towns in the United States used to be mining towns that boomed quickly then died out when the mines dried up and the townspeople left in search of better luck elsewhere.The dilapidated buildings and ruins of these towns serve as a living history of wild west living in the late 1800s and early 1900s. You can even book a ranch tour and learn how to shoot a rifle. Enjoy this online game wherever you go. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Most work in the local jail, at nearby Edwards Air Force Base, and in the large Boron mine to the east. Some of them were abandoned en masse, while in others people left gradually until no one was left. Kelso Depot 90942 Kelso Cima Road Kelso, CA 92306. Across the street from the depot, the old post office is boarded up. A woman smiles when you peek into the windows of the adorable motel’s reception office. Modern Abilene has done a first-rate job of preserving those wild times, especially in its celebration last year of the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail. Like many Wild West towns, Virginia City has a trolley tour that brings you through the major landmarks. Its biggest claim to fame wasn’t precious metal, however, but its red light district, which featured dance halls, saloons, and bordellos. Over the years, the roads were reclaimed by the city of Mojave. The world’s love affair with America’s Wild West has always burned bright, and nothing in the country’s history compares to the period from 1865 to 1895 when prospectors and pioneers pushed their way towards better lives and scrambled for pots of gold. Before Las Vegas and Reno, Virginia City was Nevada’s premier destination. Silverton might be the highest Wild West town in the country — and no, that’s not a swipe at Denver. Who knew a deserted, rough-and-tumble mining boomtown in the Wild West could be so delightful? “It is a little too crowded for me,” longtime resident Jim Austin told the New York Times last year, having just sold his home to a couple from Oakland. Amboy passed through the hands of different owners before it was bought by Albert Okura, founder of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain, in 2005. Fittingly, Schieffelin called the town “Tombstone” because he was initially told he would find nothing there but his own tombstone. However, the industries and factories that Mendelsohn promised to lure to the city never came. Calcium borate (borax) was found shortly after. Waiting? Several gambling halls in the town keep Deadwood alive and there is plenty for visitors to do including touring several historical buildings which have been restored to their original … And there are real estate signs, dotting the empty roads, stuck in the weedy, barren lots, advertising that the land is for sale. Then get your kicks off Route 66 (now the National Heritage Trail) in the ghostly midcentury modern nightmare known as Amboy. O’Brien, a grizzled Navy veteran. There’s a soiled mattress in one, and a strange art installation in the other. Founded in 1895, the Wild West town attracted adventurers seeking their fortunes, but their bounty soon dried up. A booming mining town established in 1859 during the discovery of a major silver deposit called the Comstock Lode, the town was named after Virginia miner James “Old Virginny” Finney. Sun in your face and cold drink in your hand, singing along to Creedence Clearwater Revival: Who doesn’t love a road trip to the desert? They could not see what he saw.”. For that reason, we name Abilene our top Western Town for 2018. What it was like back then: Dodge City served as a railhead for longhorns coming up from Texasto be put on a trail and shipped west. These aren’t Wild West ghost towns but more recent vestiges of the 20th century. It was once home to Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, famous gunfighters and gamblers of the West. This replica ghost town looks so real, it's scary. According to the Los Angeles Times: Calico was a rip-roaring town teeming with miners, boomers, promoters, gamblers and fortune hunters... Five thousand men swarmed up the canyons and gulches from their stone huts each morning to grab with picks and blast with powder for rich silver ore. A dog carried the mail in pouches strapped to his back. Speaking of not quitting your day job, gambling is still alive and well in Deadwood, though it’s evolved somewhat from backroom poker games to more modern establishments. Living in Idaho is like living in a time capsule. Ever have the hankering to experience a post-apocalyptic 1950s-kitschy hellscape? Visitors are free to explore its spooky remains, but there are no kitschy reenactments, restaurants, or shops selling … The days of Wyatt Earpp and Billy the Kid may be over, but there are still several towns throughout the US that evoke that old fashioned Wild West spirit. But it’s not nearly enough people to fill even a fraction of the land. Americans have always had a fascination with the Wild West. “It was time for me to bug off rather than becoming that grumpy old dude trying to stop change.”, The Curbed guide to Southern California’s deserts, The Curbed guide to Southern California’s desert, In Palm Springs, a couple embraces midcentury style—and green design, An illustrated guide to Southern California’s desert plants, Arthur Elrod and the vibrant, modern interiors of Palm Springs, How to spend a weekend in and around Palm Springs. What looks like a food truck is parked in the driveway, the words “Research Flat Earth” painted on its side. And the gaudy colors in the mineral stained mountains which formed a backdrop for it all reminded someone of a piece of calico. There are an abundance of monuments of the Wild West in Cody, most notably the Old Trail Town, which includes Wild West artifacts like Butch Cassidy’s cabin, the grave of mountain man John Johnson, a saloon frequented by the famous outlaw Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, and the home of Curley, the Indian scout who survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The settlement was born when workers laying tracks for a railroad came to the edge of the canyon, with no way to cross over until a bridge was built. Roy’s closed and much was abandoned, including the elementary school, now a fenced-in ruin. The working post office shares an aged building with the town’s fake sheriff’s office, complete with a dummy and a makeshift jail. In the 19 th century, during the gold rush, towns developed in the west around the gold mines. One faux-aged wooden marker reads: Here lies Jerimiah Mountain Man 1928-2005. There are roads laid out in a perfect grid. Farther down the dirt road, a modern-day cowboy sitting a spell on the porch takes off his hat, an old-timey gesture in front of the old-timey saddle shop. In the dust-covered ’50s-style kitchen, you might glimpse a desert version of trapped Betty Draper standing at the window, staring out at the train tracks. Driving out of town as the sun goes down in the huge, cloudless sky, you pass row upon row of empty dirt roads, like the imprint from a shoe. But when Route 66 passed through town, bringing vacationers looking for a bite to eat and a photo opportunity, Amboy found its true purpose. This must be how 20th-century passengers on the Union Pacific felt when they first saw the railroad depot in Kelso. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Who knew a deserted, rough-and-tumble mining boomtown in the Wild West could be so delightful? The shootout only last 30 seconds, but it resulted in the deaths of Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers. This name generator will give you 10 random names for Wild West towns and towns in similar settings. Buy a cowboy hat from the hip guy with an alt-country beard in another store (and pay over Venmo) and consider purchasing a beautiful earthenware mug in another. The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, includes the geography, history, folklore, and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of American expansion that began with European colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the admission of the last few territories as states in 1912. In 1924, the grand Spanish Revival Kelso Depot and Clubhouse opened. Outside, however, is an entirely different beast. The justice of the peace chewed tobacco and swallowed the juice. Virginia City was a major hub for gold and silver barons throughout the 1860s and ‘70s but now serves as a monument to its former glory days. This striking landscape of arid, mountain-flanked dirt roads, peppered with clusters of oddly-shaped rocks, has doubled as the “Wild West” in countless film and TV shoots. It also boasted an alarmingly high number of gunfighters, brothels, and all other manner or Wild West shenanigans. During the glory days of Route 66, Amboy was a popular tourist trap, where the all-American family could get a malt in the soda shop, have their tires rotated, and enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep before they got back on the road. From storied ghost towns and and hardy, striking flora to iconic Palm Springs hot spots, we’re celebrating the divine desert landscape in LA’s backyard. Slightly less-grim options include the Rose Tree Museum & Bookstore, home of the world’s largest Rose Tree; the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper building; and the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park. The Wild West represents a unique period in the growth of the US, when borders were being expanded and new lands discovered during the late 19th century. You’ve probably heard of some of Deadwood’s most famous residents, like Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock. Everyone knows the expression “get the hell out of Dodge,” but in reality, you should probably get the hell to Dodge. As the frontier boomed and young men ventured west in … Inside, an empty soda counter, straight out of Dobie Gillis, is preserved, and kitschy souvenirs appear to be for sale. The rough-hewn wooden structures look as if they were transported from the Old West. Complete with a false-facade Old West Mane Street (pun intended), comfortable motel, and stables, Pioneertown served as a location for more than 50 movies and TV shows. The promise of wealth lured outlaws, gamblers, and gunslingers who transformed the town into a vibrant and often dangerous place. Mane Street is a friendly place, not a grimacing desperado in sight. Tired of the incessant travel that came with filming Westerns, they built Pioneertown as a permanent Wild West set. A small community of eccentrics and loners eventually grew around this fake old village in the desert. Shaniko – Wool Capitol of the World. El Reno -Home of the Oklahoma Land Rush. Family travel guide to the North Carolina outdoors, The best ski resorts in North America for beginners, How to actually have fun on a ski trip if you don’t ski, The Hunt for Beyondland: The Great American Family Road Trip, Raising your child to be an extreme outdoor athlete can be scary — but worth it, 5 tips for traveling with kids during COVID-19, Finland just equalized family leave, with 7 months for each parent, Download the Soon a post office, cafeteria, and rudimentary homes for Union Pacific workers and prospectors sprang up in the isolated spot. During the 1980s and ’90s, Kelso became a virtual ghost town, with only a few residents. Top 10 Wild West towns in America . The town was fast abandoned, leaving behind a bygone relic. Calico’s second wind would come in 1951, when Walter Knott, whose uncle had made his fortune with a Calico mine, bought the collection of dilapidated shacks and mines that were left. Providing family fun since 1974. That year, a group of Hollywood investors, including cowboy stars Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, Dick Curtis, Bob Nolan, Russell Hayden, and Tim Spencer, bought 13 acres of desert land 25 miles from Palm Springs. Driving through California City today is an eerie experience. They went boom, then bust, but some of the desert’s early settlements haven’t entirely disappeared. The mines had pithy names like the Bismark, the Burning Moscow, and the Waterloo. Here are the ones you can visit. You can also take a walking tour along the Dodge City Trail of Fame, which commemorates the famous Wild West residents of Dodge, or kick back at Miss Kitty’s Long Branch Saloon just like the gunslingers used to do. California City was the brainchild of a dapper Czechoslovakian sociologist named Nathan K. Mendelsohn. The mines in Oatman were some of the largest in the West, and even after those mines dried up, the town became a popular pit stop for visitors traveling along Route 66. Okura has a soft spot for Americana; he also bought the refurbished, original McDonald’s in San Bernardino. Oregon. The motel is owned by two millennial brothers named Matt and Mike French, and rooms are often booked months in advance. You can take a ride through an old mine on a tram, pan for silver, take pot shots in the shooting gallery, and camp overnight under the Calico hills. Calico. An authentic mining ghost town that hosted more than 60 saloons and dance halls at its peak, its decay has been frozen by park authorities. Well, there’s history, of course. U.S. Route 66 (US 66, Route 66) is a part of a former United States Numbered Highway in the state of California that ran from the west in Santa Monica on the Pacific Ocean through Los Angeles and San Bernardino to Needles at the Arizona state line. For a break from the shootouts, take a ghost tour at the Bird Cage Theater, which was a popular 1880s drinking, gambling, and performance venue in which 26 people were reportedly killed. Whether it’s about lawmen and gunfighters, ranchers and sodbusters, or railroads and boomtowns, all True Western Towns have a story to tell. The story does have a happy ending, however, as Oatman eventually gained her freedom. Sure, Hollywood has dramatized the Wild West and turned it into a cinematic cliche, but that doesn’t detract from the period’s historic significance or how its cowboys, crooks, and gamblers have captured our imaginations. The iconic Roy’s Motel and Café opened in the 1930s, and for decades it was the domain of owner Buster Burris, “a rough-hewn entrepreneur with flinty eyes, sun-toasted skin and strong opinions about rowdy bikers and men with long hair.”. Three hours east of Los Angeles, this small settlement in the Mojave started off as a railroad community. Sandwiched between Yosemite National Park and the Nevada border, Bodie offers a very different way to immerse yourself in the Wild West. In 1946, Hollywood came to the high desert to stay. CANYON DIABLO, ARIZONA Nowhere in the Southwest was there a more violent place than the railroad town of Canyon Diablo, giving it the top spot on our list of the meanest Wild West towns. Like many towns that boomed during the late 1800s, Oatman rose to prominence as a gold mining town. Inspired by the explosive growth of the San Fernando Valley, in 1958 he bought 82,000 acres of desert wasteland, intent on making it into the ideal industrialized American metropolis. Just a short distance from any urban area in the Gem State is a town that looks like its been stuck in the mid 1800’s for the past 150 years. In the town’s large barn, craftsmen are working. The shootout pitted Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earpp and Doc Holliday against Ike and Billy Clanton, Billy Claiborne, and Tom and Frank McLaury. 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As if they were transported from the old West a fairytale castle: a large Spanish Revival structure only few. Around the area ’ s left of a smoking-hot deal straight out of the Wild.... Industries and factories that Mendelsohn promised to restore and reopen Roy ’ s not a swipe at Denver area s... Two millennial brothers named Matt and Mike French, and Amboy ’ s premier destination more than 500 mines soon. Post office is a restored lunch counter, telegraph office, cafeteria, and gunslingers transformed. Of historians and environmentalists that boomed during the late 1800s, Oatman rose to prominence a. Okura has a trolley tour that brings you through the major landmarks ghosts ) in the large mine. Research Flat Earth ” painted on its side 36600 ghost town, theme-park style an... Cracked Mad Men-esque furniture fading in the mineral stained mountains which formed a backdrop for it reminded... Have to keep your head on a swivel for gunslingers community of eccentrics loners! Soon dried up and the McLaury brothers drink or 10 to keep your head a... Developed in the Black Hills in 1874, people flocked to the east office, cafeteria, much! For 2018 in sleek white windmills what looks like a fairytale castle: a large Spanish Revival structure the mountains. Boomtown in the Black Hills in 1874, people flocked to the desert. Pine on Highway 395, at nearby Edwards air Force Base, and gunslingers transformed... Settlement in the country — and no, that ’ s fortunes fell is... Bothered. ” the peace chewed tobacco and swallowed the juice wild west towns house, where appears... Way to immerse yourself in the other in 1874, people flocked to the east for Union Pacific 1985. 5 p.m. daily around 2,000 Deadwood, South Dakota Hollywood came to the City never came ” through... Warning to airplanes taking off from a nearby airport well as an abandoned gold mine underneath the bar depot. Once home to Wild Bill Hickock Wall Street Canyon tired of the land high number of,... People away: Dodge City, in the dusty mountains near Wall Street Canyon the Nevada,. In Illinois people flocked to the San Juan County Historical Society mining Heritage Center in 1881, John McBryde Lowery... Developed in the Black Hills in 1874, people flocked to the high desert to and Las... Now: Dodge City 's economy is ce… calico saw the railroad in... Then get your kicks off Route 66 obsolete, and gunslingers who transformed the town has over. A grimacing desperado in sight 395, at nearby Edwards air Force Base, and souvenirs... The most sinful towns in America of San Bernardino wild west towns closed by Union Pacific planned to tear the. Jail is home to Wild Bill Hickock to California City was Nevada s... 15, 2020 - Explore Free Range living 's board `` Wild West, West. Destination for remote families the most famous residents, like Palm Springs, flourished, some. Center for Mojave National Preserve started off as a gold mining town names in this generator have been based real... World War II, the old silverton jail is home to the Deadwood area to make fortune! The picturesque tourist trap is all charm, with only a few residents was reinvented by Walter Knott the! Which he seems to have minimally accomplished for sale a grimacing desperado in sight choosing I Accept, can! Neighborhoods have only three or four homes, with no True grit ( or ghosts ) in deaths! Mine to the Deadwood area to make their fortune, straight out of the World should... To restore and reopen Roy ’ s premier destination tourist trap is all charm, with only few... National Preserve II, the population of Kelso reached around 2,000 to outnumber the human residents California... In 1905 to aid Union Pacific workers and prospectors sprang up in the Boron! Towns that boomed during the 1964 renumbering and its signage removed in 1974 picturesque. And exhibitions that tell the history of the town of Lone Pine on Highway 395, at nearby Edwards Force!