Ghost towns across America are frozen in time trends now
Across the US, there are dozens of delipidated, vacant towns that are still standing despite their residents fleeing decades - and sometimes centuries - ago.
Visitors can still creep around the eerie locations today, and see the crumbling saloons from the Wild West days, single-cell jails, and haunting graveyards.
In some abandoned locations, there's still furniture in houses and litter on the ground - alongside vacant buildings which are on the brink of tumbling down.
Many are towns and camps which once bustled because of the Gold Rush, mining boom, or because of new highways being built near them. But for one reason or another, they now stand alone - giving passersby a snapshot of a by-gone era.
Here are 11 of the creepiest ghost towns scattered across the US.
Bodie, California: At its height in 1879, there were about 10,000 residents living in the gold mine town - but by 1915 it was officially described as a ghost town
Cahaba, Alabama used to be a major cotton-distribution area - but now it is a ghost town
South Pass City, Wyoming
South Pass City is one of Wyoming's largest historic sites, and the abandoned site is open to visitors every year from mid-May to mid-October.
The area used to be home to over 30 gold mines on the Oregon Trial - but soon after they closed, it became a ghost town.
It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town also played an important role in women's history.
South Pass City was where a bill was passed to make Wyoming the first territory where women could vote and hold public office after a law was signed in 1869. This freedom was not granted to women nationally until 1920.
By the mid-1870s South Pass City's population was reduced to about 100 people. In the years following, many of the city's homes and businesses began to fall into disrepair.
South Pass City, Wyoming: It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town also played an important role in women's history
By the mid-1870s South Pass City's population was reduced to about 100 people. In the years following, many of the city's homes and businesses began to fall into disrepair
Bodie, California
Bodie, located near the Nevada state line in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and 75 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe, has been described as a real ghost town - with buildings still falling down today.
The ghost town is on a 8,500-foot elevation, and again was one of the boom town during the Gold Rush.
At its height in 1879, there were about 10,000 residents living in the gold mine town - but by 1915 it was officially described as a ghost town.
Bodie was made a California Historic Landmark, meaning the town will be preserved in the years to come - and it receives about 200,000 visitors yearly.
Among the buildings lost in time in the Wild West ghost town is a wooden church and gas pumps - with the remains of old trucks still nearby.
The interiors of some delipidated 110 buildings can still be seen today - and often still contain mundane objects, like china plates and newspaper snippings.
The buildings left in the abandoned town of Bodie, California
Among the buildings lost in time in the Wild West ghost town is a wooden church and gas pumps - with the remains of old trucks still nearby
Texola, Oklahoma
Texola is located along America's most famous route Route 66 - but the population as of 2010 is just 36.
The ghost town has actually gone through name changes across the years - reflecting the change in state lines. It used to be called Texokla and Texoma, after both Texas and Oklahoma.
Texola grew rapidly in the 1920s - and its population peaked at 581 in the 1930 census, and the area had a booming local economy following the creation of Route 66.
Texola, Oklahoma once had a booming local economy following the creation of Route 66
But in the decades following, the number of people living in the area slowly declined because of the lack of cotton production - what the town was known for in its earlier years.
One of the only things that visitors can see when they come to Texola is a quirky roadside One Room Jail. Built in the late 19th century, its a single-cell entity with an iron-barred door and window.
Centralia, Pennsylvania
There were just five residents living in this town in 2020, due to a fire that has been burning beneath the borough since 1962.
Once a booming mining town, the area went into steep decline. At its peak, the town had seven churches, 27 saloons, two theaters, and a bank.
There were also five hotels, a post office, 14 general and grocery stores in Centralia - but as many of the miners enlisted in the military during World War One, the population started to decline.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 also caused havoc for the town. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed five of its Centralia-local mines, causing further hardship for the local economy.
Once a booming mining town, the area is went into steep decline. At its peak, the town had seven churches, 27 saloons, two theaters, and a bank
Centralia, Pennsylvania: The eerie buildings which still stand have been overtaken by nature as the fire still bellows in the labyrinth of
