A ghost town is an abandoned village, town or city, usually one which contains substantial visible remains. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters. The term is sometimes used to refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods which are still populated, but significantly less so than in years past; for example those affected by high levels of unemployment and dereliction.
Some ghost towns, especially those that preserve period-specific architecture, have become tourist attractions. Some examples are Bannack, Montana, Calico, California, and Oatman, Arizona in the United States, Barkerville in Canada, Elizabeth Bay and Kolmanskop in Namibia, and Prypiat in Ukraine. Visiting, writing about, and photographing ghost towns is a minor industry. A recent modern day example is Ōkuma, Fukushima which was abandoned due to the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami incident.
Read more about Ghost Town: Definition of A Ghost Town, Reasons For Abandonment, Revived Ghost Towns
Famous quotes containing the words ghost and/or town:
“A fig for
The seal of fire,
Death hairy-heeled, and the tapped ghost in wood,
We make me mystic as the arm of air,
The two-a-vein, the foreskin, and the cloud.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Close to the academy in this town they have erected a sort of gallows for the pupils to practice on. I thought that they might as well hang at once all who need to go through such exercises in so new a country, where there is nothing to hinder their living an outdoor life. Better omit Blair, and take the air.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)