Ghost Town USA’s™

GHOST TOWN

DEFINITIONS

NOTE: Some of the definitions are illustrated with photos and are marked THUSLY.

Horizontal or slightly sloped passageway from a mine opening. Often called a tunnel.

ARRASTRA:

A primitive mill usually powered by burro, mule or a horse. It is usually a circular ring of rock, with a smooth concrete or other hard surface on the bottom. A pole in the center has an arm affixed to it, and that arm reaches to the outside of the rock ring, where the animal pulls it around and around. A heavy weight is attached by chain or rope to the arm, and drags over ore-containing rock placed in the basin. The weight crushes and grinds the ore into a fine sandy material, and that is then scooped out and processed further.

BOARD & BATTEN:

A method of construction where the wood frame is covered with flat planks (usually vertically), and the joint or space between is covered by a smaller, thin piece of wood to help keep wind and rain from penetrating through the cracks.

BOARDWALK:

The sidewalks in many old towns was made of elevated wooden planks so the folks using it would not have to walk in mud.

CLAIM:

Usually in reference to “MINING CLAIMS.” These are the outcroppings or veins, or other valuable mineral deposit that the miner wants to take possession of, or CLAIM. To do so, specific legal steps must be made, starting with a “Notice of Location” being posted on the site. Over the years, the forms have changed, but here are samples of 1941 LODE and PLACER “Notices of Location.” Once the future mine has been properly posted, the location must be recorded with the governing agency (in the old days - usually the county). The mining claim is now the legal property of the miner, following certain stipulations.

CLASSIFICATION:

See our Classification page for details.

CLASSIC GHOST TOWN:

Generally this term is applied to ghost towns located in the western part of the country in which many old buildings are still standing, and in which there are no people currently living. This would be a Class C town. See our Classification page for more details.

COMPANY TOWN:

These ghost town types were wholly owned by the parent company that operated the mine, railroad, or logging operation. Most of the time, the housing stock and the commercial businesses were owned and operated by the parent company. They are very popular in coal mining regions. The tiny, look-alike homes were rented out by the company to miners and their families.

DOWNTOWN CORE:

A cluster of buildings (usually commercial) making up the business district. It often occurs at a cross road. The largest buildings are generally located here, and they usually decrease in size as one moves away form that core.

FALSE FRONT:

An architectural feature wherein a small gable-roofed building has a large flat front added on to make it appear larger. Often the flat front served as a backing for advertising signage. Sometimes the builder would even install false windows. This style of construction was very popular in the American West during the late 1800s and first couple decades of the 1900s.

GHOST TOWN:

A Ghost Town is a town or community that at one time had a commercial or population center, and is either wholly abandoned or faded greatly from its peak, and now is just a shadow of its former self. They can be categorized into five basic types. See our Classification page for more details.

GHOST TOWNER:

A person who enjoys exploring and visiting GHOST TOWNS.

GHOST TOWNING:

The act of exploring and visiting GHOST TOWNS.

GLORY HOLE:

A large, chamber of rich mineral-bearing ore inside of a mine. They are usually in areas where the VEINS spread out or large outcroppings of very rich rock appear. The area being mined is much larger than what tunnel mining will accommodate.

GNIS:

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the United States Department of the Interior, US Geologic Survey, US Board on Geographic Names’ online database for over 2.1 million geographic and place names in the United States. This is a very useful tool for GHOST TOWNERS searching for locations of specific towns.

HARDROCK MINE:

Also known as a lode mine, these are the stereotyped mines, where the mineral bearing ore is extracted by the miners from underground by the use of tunnels. These tunnels consist of ADITS (horizontal passageways), WINZES (inclined passageways), and shafts (vertical passageways). Often in larger mines the activity occurs at different levels.

HEADFRAME:

The above ground hoisting equipment standing over a mine entrance. It can be massive & enclosed like the one at the Homestake Mine in South Dakota, or small like this Nevada mine.

LEAD:

Pronounced “LEED”, this is where a VEIN of valuable mineral is exposed along the surface of an ore outcropping.

LODE MINE:

SEE Hardrock Mine for definition.

MINING CAMP:

This term is often used in conjunction with Ghost Towns in book titles such as: Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of California. A Mining Camp is a specific type of ghost town, generally on the smaller side. It was the supporting camp/town for a mining operation. Often the mining camps never really developed into a real, self-supporting town, and may have consisted only of a half dozen tents scattered about a small mining operation.

MINING DISTRICT:

In the early days of mining, groups of nearby mines were gathered together under the umbrella of a MINING DISTRICT, where-in common laws and rules were issued and abided by. Some of these laws would include size and number of claims a person could have.

OPEN PIT:

As the name implies, this is a mining method wherein the ore is removed via a large surface hole.

PAPER TOWN:

This refers to a town site that has its site platted or mapped, but never developed. The sites were surveyed, and sometimes lots may have been staked out, but usually no town ever developed there.

PLACER MINING:

A method of mining free gold or silver by using water or air to separate it from the sand or gravel in which it occurs. Methods include using a pan, sluice box or in dry regions a drywasher.

PLAT / PLATTING:

This is the physical act of mapping out the site of a new town on paper. The map is called a plat map and shows the features of the town, such as lots, streets and even buildings. It is then usually recorded at the appropriate County Recorder or Assessor’s Office.

ROAD TOWN:

A Road Town is a small community that caters to travelers. They are often found at rural crossroads or along old highways. Services usually included a motel/auto court, restaurant/café, gas stations, souvenir shops and other travel related amenities. After the Interstate Highway system came into wide use, many of these old communities died out or, if they were reasonably close to the Interstate, relocated to an off ramp area.

SEMI-GHOST:

Also see our Classification page for details. This is a still living town in which there are many abandoned buildings, but in which there is also a small resident population.

TIPPLE:

This is the tall structure where coal gets dumped from the conveyor belts or mine carts and thence drops down into hoppers from where it is sorted and/or loaded into coal cars on trains, or trailers on trucks.

VEINS:

Gold, silver and other valuable minerals often lie in seams or veins lacing through the host rock. Where these veins reach the surface, they are called LEADS (pronounced LEEDS) or outcroppings.

WINZE:

A steeply angled/inclined passageway/tunnel in a mine.

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FIRST POSTED: Aug 03, 2009

LAST UPDATED: Sep 19, 2009

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