What is a ghost town?

A ghost town is a once-thriving community that has been deserted by nearly all its residents. These towns can be found across the world and are created for many reasons, such as natural disasters, war, extreme climates, and economic issues. Often, ghost towns occur when the industry that supported the town's economy is no longer running, frequently because the natural resource it depended on has been exhausted. The sense of mystery attracts tourists to well-preserved ghost towns such as Bodie and Calico in California.

Why do towns become deserted and turn into ghost towns?

Towns can become deserted and transform into ghost towns due to a variety of reasons. These include economic issues like the depletion of natural resources that supported the town's industry, as seen in the gold and silver mining boomtowns of the American West. Natural disasters, such as landslides and earthquakes, have also led to the abandonment of towns, as happened in Craco, Italy. Similarly, the Chernobyl disaster in Pryp’yat, Ukraine, caused the town's evacuation due to radiation. Even dam construction and transportation changes, like the bypassing of towns by railroads or interstate highways, have resulted in communities becoming ghost towns.

What are some common reasons people leave ghost towns?

Ghost towns become deserted for various reasons, including economic issues, resource depletion, natural disasters, extreme climates, war, dam construction, pollution, and nuclear disasters . Often, the industry that supported the town's economy ceases to operate due to the exhaustion of a natural resource. In the United States during the 1800s, many boomtowns that were founded by gold and silver miners were only active for a short time because the mines were exhausted or it was not financially feasible to continue mining. Natural disasters can also cause people to leave. For example, Craco, Italy , was abandoned after a series of landslides and an earthquake.

Where are some famous ghost towns located?

Ghost towns, once active communities, have been deserted by nearly all residents. These towns can be found across the globe and have become popular tourist destinations due to their mysterious and nostalgic atmosphere. Several well-preserved ghost towns are Bodie and Calico in California, both of which were founded by gold and silver miners in the mid-to-late 1800s. Humberstone, Chile, is another example of a ghost town that was abandoned in the mid-1900s after saltpetre mining stopped. Pryp’yat in Ukraine became a ghost town following the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986, after which the residents were evacuated.

How do ghost towns look different from regular towns?

Ghost towns differ significantly from regular towns primarily due to abandonment, often resulting from exhausted natural resources, economic downturns, or disasters. Unlike active communities, ghost towns are deserted or nearly so, with few or no residents. Structurally, some ghost towns feature intact buildings, while others show only foundations. This contrasts sharply with the occupied and maintained infrastructure of regular towns. The atmosphere of ghost towns evokes mystery and nostalgia, drawing tourists to well-preserved sites like Bodie and Calico in California.

What can we learn about history by studying ghost towns?

Ghost towns, once-thriving communities now deserted, offer valuable insights into history. They often reflect the boom-and-bust cycles of resource-dependent economies, such as gold and silver mining towns in the American West. The relics of these towns can illustrate past ways of life, economic shifts, and the impact of natural resource depletion. Additionally, ghost towns can highlight the consequences of natural disasters, like Craco, Italy, abandoned after landslides and earthquakes, or human-made disasters, such as Pryp’yat in Ukraine, deserted after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Studying these abandoned places provides a tangible connection to the past, revealing the fragility of communities in the face of economic, environmental, or transportation changes.

ghost town

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Quick Facts

Related Topics:: town

See all related content

ghost town

society

Written by

Karen Sottosanti

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 10, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a ghost town?
A ghost town is a once-thriving community that has been deserted by nearly all its residents. These towns can be found across the world and are created for many reasons, such as natural disasters, war, extreme climates, and economic issues.

Often, ghost towns occur when the industry that supported the town's economy is no longer running, frequently because the natural resource it depended on has been exhausted. The sense of mystery attracts tourists to well-preserved ghost towns such as Bodie and Calico in California.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of ghost town
2. ghost town
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why do towns become deserted and turn into ghost towns?
Towns can become deserted and transform into ghost towns due to a variety of reasons. These include economic issues like the depletion of natural resources that supported the town's industry, as seen in the gold and silver mining boomtowns of the American West.

Natural disasters, such as landslides and earthquakes, have also led to the abandonment of towns, as happened in Craco, Italy. Similarly, the Chernobyl disaster in Pryp’yat, Ukraine, caused the town's evacuation due to radiation. Even dam construction and transportation changes, like the bypassing of towns by railroads or interstate highways, have resulted in communities becoming ghost towns.
1 Britannica Source
1. ghost town
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some common reasons people leave ghost towns?
Ghost towns become deserted for various reasons, including economic issues, resource depletion, natural disasters, extreme climates, war, dam construction, pollution, and nuclear disasters.

Often, the industry that supported the town's economy ceases to operate due to the exhaustion of a natural resource. In the United States during the 1800s, many boomtowns that were founded by gold and silver miners were only active for a short time because the mines were exhausted or it was not financially feasible to continue mining.

Natural disasters can also cause people to leave. For example, Craco, Italy, was abandoned after a series of landslides and an earthquake.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where are some famous ghost towns located?
Ghost towns, once active communities, have been deserted by nearly all residents. These towns can be found across the globe and have become popular tourist destinations due to their mysterious and nostalgic atmosphere.

Several well-preserved ghost towns are Bodie and Calico in California, both of which were founded by gold and silver miners in the mid-to-late 1800s. Humberstone, Chile, is another example of a ghost town that was abandoned in the mid-1900s after saltpetre mining stopped. Pryp’yat in Ukraine became a ghost town following the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986, after which the residents were evacuated.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of ghost town
2. ghost town
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do ghost towns look different from regular towns?
Ghost towns differ significantly from regular towns primarily due to abandonment, often resulting from exhausted natural resources, economic downturns, or disasters. Unlike active communities, ghost towns are deserted or nearly so, with few or no residents.

Structurally, some ghost towns feature intact buildings, while others show only foundations. This contrasts sharply with the occupied and maintained infrastructure of regular towns. The atmosphere of ghost towns evokes mystery and nostalgia, drawing tourists to well-preserved sites like Bodie and Calico in California.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of ghost town
2. ghost town
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What can we learn about history by studying ghost towns?
Ghost towns, once-thriving communities now deserted, offer valuable insights into history. They often reflect the boom-and-bust cycles of resource-dependent economies, such as gold and silver mining towns in the American West. The relics of these towns can illustrate past ways of life, economic shifts, and the impact of natural resource depletion.

Additionally, ghost towns can highlight the consequences of natural disasters, like Craco, Italy, abandoned after landslides and earthquakes, or human-made disasters, such as Pryp’yat in Ukraine, deserted after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Studying these abandoned places provides a tangible connection to the past, revealing the fragility of communities in the face of economic, environmental, or transportation changes.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of ghost town
2. ghost town
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

ghost town, town that was once an active community but has since been abandoned by all or nearly all of its residents. Ghost towns are found on every continent. The reasons for abandonment of a town include economic or resource issues, natural disasters, extreme climates, war and other armed conflicts, the building of dams, pollution, and nuclear disasters. Some ghost towns contain nearly intact human-built structures, while in others there are only a few traces—such as the foundations of buildings—of the people who once inhabited the community. The sense of mystery and nostalgia that swirls around ghost towns has made some of them popular tourist attractions.

One common reason residents abandon an entire town is that the industry that supported a community’s economy was no longer operating, often because the natural resource upon which the industry depended has been depleted. In the mid-to-late 1800s in the United States, for example, many small boomtowns founded by gold and silver miners were active for only a short period of time before the mines were exhausted or it was not financially feasible to continue mining. The towns of Bodie and Calico in the state of California fall into this category. Today, tourists regularly flock to both of these well-preserved ghost towns.

Resource issues also spelled the demise of Humberstone, Chile, a town in the Atacama Desert where saltpetre was mined for several decades beginning about the last quarter of the 19th century. Humberstone became a ghost town in the mid-1900s when mining for saltpetre stopped. A similar fate befell communities surrounding Vorkuta, Russia. Coal mines in this area were worked by Gulag prisoners beginning in the 1930s, then by paid miners. After the U.S.S.R. collapsed in 1991, a number of the mines closed, people left the area, and many villages around Vorkuta became ghost towns.

Dam construction, with its accompanying flooding of valleys, has created underwater ghost towns, often against the will of the towns’ inhabitants. This was the fate of Tignes, France, which was submerged in 1952 by the rising waters of Lake Chevril, the artificial lake behind the newly constructed Tignes Dam (also known as the Chevril Dam).

Some settlements become ghost towns after transportation issues strike a severe economic blow to the community. On the Great Plains in the United States, for example, small towns that were bypassed by railroad lines often failed, for several reasons. Because travelers did not often stop in these towns, the businesses there lost money. In addition, farmers bought supplies in towns with railway stations because goods were cheaper there than in towns without railway stations, since those communities had additional expenses from transporting supplies into town. Another example is the fate of many small towns along Route 66, which stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles. After its founding in 1926, Route 66 became an important road for U.S. travelers, but in the late 1950s the U.S. began building interstate highways. Travelers began to use them instead of Route 66, and many small communities along the route became ghost towns due to lack of business.

Disasters, natural and otherwise, are responsible for the creation of many ghost towns. Craco, Italy, was abandoned by many of its residents during the 1960s following a series of damaging landslides. The rest left after the devastating Irpinia earthquake of 1980. Craco is now a popular tourist attraction where parts of several movies have been filmed, including the 2008 James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.

A disaster of another kind made Centralia, Pennsylvania, a ghost town. A coal seam fire that began under the town in 1962—and is still burning today—made the ground unstable and prone to collapse, with smoke seeping through cracks in the earth and sinkholes suddenly opening in the ground. Most residents finally relocated in 1984, and in 1992 the town was condemned, though it was still inhabited by a few residents who refused to move.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

The town of Pryp’yat in Ukraine became a ghost town after the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986, when an accident at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant released radiation into the atmosphere. The residents of Pryp’yat were hastily evacuated and the town largely abandoned. Despite still-elevated radiation levels, some curious tourists visit the ghost town.

Karen Sottosanti

ghost town

Thank you for signing up!