Ghost Towns of California: Your Guide to the Hidden History and Old West Haunts of California

by Philip Varney

Overview

Ghost Towns of California is a guidebook to the state's best boomtowns. Once thriving, these abandoned mining camps and pioneer villages still ring with history.

 Ghost town expert Philip Varney equips you with everything you need to know to explore these remnants of the past. Featured are color maps, driving and walking directions, town histories, touring recommendations, and stunning color photography of 70 sites, including the famous Bodie. Come see where it all started at the mother lode, and trace the great migration throughout the region. Visit the northern mines and the ghosts of San Francisco Bay, the Eastern Sierra, Death Valley, and the Mojave Desert. This is the essential guidebook to the glory days of the Old West!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760340820
Publisher:	Harvard Common Press, The
Publication date:	07/15/2012
Edition description:	First
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	491,906
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Phillip Varney is the author and photographer of seven books about ghost towns. He has toured and photographed more than six hundred ghost towns throughout the American West. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Table of Contents

To the Reader 8

Introduction 14

1 Ghosts of the Mother Lode

Coloma 24

Georgetown 30

Amador City 33

Volcano 40

Mokelumne Hill 43

Campo Seco 46

Murphys 48

Columbia 52

Chinese Camp 56

2 Ghosts of the Northern Mines

Nevada City 62

Dutch Flat 68

North Bloomfield and Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park 72

Downieville 79

Sierra City 85

Johnsville and the Plumas-Eureka State Park 88

3 Ghosts of the North Country

Shasta 96

French Gulch 100

Weaverville 102

Helena 107

Callahan 110

4 Ghosts of San Francisco Bay

Alcatraz 118

Angel Island 124

Fort Point 129

China Camp 132

Locke 135

5 Ghosts of the Eastern sierra

Bodie 146

Manzanar 159

The Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns 164

Cerro Gordo 166

Keeler 173

6 Spirits of Death Valley

Skidoo 180

The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns 183

The Harmony Borax Works 185

Leadfield 188

Ryan 190

Shoshone 199

7 Ghosts of the Mojave Desert

Kelso 208

Calico 212

Randsburg 216

The Tropico Gold Mine 220

Willow Springs 222

Llano 224

Acknowledgments 228

Glossary 229

Bibliography 232

Index 235

About the Author and Photographer 240

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The book cleverly maps out the towns in geographical order and thus makes it easy for people who wish to visit them in some sequential order.” - Huffington Post

Editorial Reviews

“The book cleverly maps out the towns in geographical order and thus makes it easy for people who wish to visit them in some sequential order.” - Huffington Post

From the Publisher