Goldfield, Nevada - a 'ghost' town?

Goldfield RV Park
Site #7 - $15, p/w/s, Internet, Temp 24C

Who would have thought that such an insignificant little ghost town would turn out to be such an interesting stop for us. There weren't very many camping choices on this stretch of highway. The previous town of Tonopah, NV offered RV parking in the Casino parking lot and although nothing was listed in our "Camping Directory", this "Goldfield RV Park" popped up on the GPS.

We were a little worried as we turned up the road with all the boarded up buildings, junk laying around etc, but the "RV Park" is decent and it consisted of about 10 spots with full hookups (and even free wifi!!) We weren't alone choosing this place. There are units from BC, Alaska & CA. 

Our view from one side looks over the desert and is quite nice. The other side overlooks the town and is "interesting" with boarded up, falling down buildings and junk piles!! However it, too, became quite beautiful when the sun started going down, a full moon came out and the junk was no longer visible. We sat out enjoying the view and we read up on the old gold mining town. (There are still 2 active mines here.)

Anyway, I could probably write a book about this place, but I'll try to keep it brief.  Goldfield is basically a ghost town of 300 people today, but it has such an interesting history. Like so many of these desert towns in Nevada, it looks like it was just boarded up and people walked away. One does wonder how the remaining people even make a living here. 

Anyway, this particular town sprang up in 1902 when gold was first discovered. By 1906, it was the largest city in Nevada and became a leading political and economic power with a population of 20,000 people. At it's height in 1907, Goldfield boasted 84 lawyers, 49 saloons, 40 doctors, 27 restaurants, 22 hotels, 21 grocers, 15 barber shops and 10 undertakers!! AND -- Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil was the sheriff here!  How cool is that!?

In Sept, 1913 a cloudburst caused a major flood wiping out a number of homes and businesses in the town (can you believe it!?  We are talking middle of the desert here!!??) By the 1920's the gold rush was pretty much over and, in 1923, a fire destroyed many of the businesses. Goldfield would never recover. 

We can see some of the remaining historical buildings from our campsite. The old Hotel looked pretty grand. The campground owner said that in it's day, it was the "fanciest hotel between St. Louis and San Francisco". It closed in 1946. It has been featured on a couple of TV shows including "Ghost Hunters" which investigators reported "paranormal activity". . . . ooooo -- it was probably jumping with activity with it being Halloween yesterday plus a full moon!!

Enough of my ramblings. We need to work out tomorrow's travel plans!!