EX TENEBRIS CRESCIT FLOS

Abandonment - The Ephemeral Nature of Human Endeavors

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The landscape of civilization is littered with the forgotten ruins of the past. What once represented the hopes and dreams of people long gone now sits derelict and abandoned. Homes and business are built, serve their purposes, and are left behind when no longer needed. Entire towns follow this cycle and now sit empty, waiting for visitors to unlock their secrets. A prospector finds a promising location and begins digging a mine. If the vein is rich, miners dig deeper and deeper in the ground, and mining camps spring up nearby. But when the ore plays out, the mine and its buildings are abandoned and Nature reclaims the land. Highways are built and become major transportation arteries, vital to the commerce of the nation. Then, transportation patterns shift or new roads are built and the once-important arteries are either abandoned entirely or are relegated to light local use and are left to suffer the ravages of neglect. Similarly, railroads are built and see heavy use for a few decades and are abandoned when no longer needed.

This site is dedicated to that which used to be important. The derelict remains of buildings, roads, towns, mines, and other proud structures of civilization have always been of great interest to me and I wish to preserve some knowledge of these decaying remains before they are lost forever. Anything old and abandoned has its place here. As I explore the region around my home, Salt Lake City, and as I travel to various parts of the country, I will take pictures of and collect information on any interesting old ruins that I happen to find.

Ghost Town Etiquette

I was a little apprehensive at first of posting some of this material, and I am especially apprehensive about posting detailed directions to some of these sites. To be blunt, I am afraid that people will destroy them. In recent years, with the increasing popularity of SUVs and off-road vehicles, more and more of these sites have become accessible to the general public, and the rate of destruction has increased alarmingly.

The best way to explore these abandoned sites is to tread lightly. Many of the buildings are especially fragile after years of weathering, and they are easily destroyed. In the deserts, the dry wood goes up in flames instantly. One of these sites has been seriously damaged since I wrote the article, although I doubt that my article contributed to its destruction since it is an easily accessible site. The restaurant building off I-80 in western Utah has burned down, and I have little doubt that the fire was set by vandals. Please do not destroy these places. If we treat these abandoned buildings and mines with care, they will still be around for future generations to enjoy and for historians and archaeologists to study. Damaging a ghost town is not just destroying an unused building. It amounts to the destruction of history, and therefore the destruction of knowledge.

Certain abandoned sites are protected by law - specifically, the ruins of Native American sites. But all of these sites should be treated as if they have legal protection, and left alone.

THE RUINS OF CIVILIZATION

A Small Group of Abandoned Structures

  • Temple Mountain, Utah - An Old Uranium Mining Camp
  • Old Highway 24 near Green River, Utah
  • The Gold Hill Mine in western Utah
  • Anasazi Cliff Dwellings in the White Canyon area, Southeastern Utah
  • Hokanson Homestead Buildings, Konza Prairie, Kansas
  • Mining Camps in Elko County, Nevada
  • Shafter, Nevada - The Remains of a Railroad Siding Town
  • Gilmore, Idaho - A Ghost Town Reborn
  • Charcoal Kilns, Lemhi County, Idaho
  • Ghosts along I-15 near the Idaho/Montana Border

    • Articles and Photographs on Various Subjects

  • Urban Blight
  • Rural Blight
  • The Ubiquitous Bedsprings
  • Historical Garbage


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