Since March of 2020, I’ve been living full-time in the historic mining town of Cerro Gordo, high in California’s Inyo Mountains.
My goal since moving here has been simple: to bring the town back to life. To preserve the history here and make it a place future generations can visit.
But living in a place like this can sometimes feel isolating. Like I’m the only one who understands the stress and pressure that comes with trying to revive a place long left behind.
But if you look across America, ghost towns are scattered in every state – abandoned mining camps, forgotten boomtowns, and places where entire communities once existed before slowly disappearing.
Some have vanished completely.
Others are slowly being brought back to life.
So in an effort to learn from these different “peers,” I set out on a road trip across the country to visit ghost towns in every state.
To understand what made them boom – and what made them die.
To see firsthand what restoration efforts have been attempted.
To meet the people who still live in these places and understand why they chose to stay.
I call the series Ghost Towns of America, and in it I travel across the country exploring these towns and telling their stories.
Some are deep in the desert. Others are hidden high in the mountains. A few still have a handful of residents who never left.
Along the way I explore old buildings, descend into abandoned mines, talk with locals and historians, and dig into the history of how these towns were founded, what happened there, and why they were ultimately abandoned.
Each stop focuses on one ghost town – combining research, photography, and the story behind the place, along with the video documenting the journey.
If you’re fascinated by ghost towns, abandoned mining towns, and the forgotten corners of American history, you’re in the right place.