Arizona's Ghost Towns and Mining Camps by Philip Varney

“Those had been overlooked as far as quality photography. “There had never been a truly good book written about Idaho, Montana and Wyoming,” he said. Varney said he wanted to put states into the mix that don’t get recognized for their ghost towns. “Ghost Towns of the Mountain West” includes Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Nevada. “You should be very impressed with the perseverance of these people, the determination to make it there.” “You have these buildings that, in the early days when there were no trains, no hydraulic lifts, things had to be carted in by mules, yet they were able to build these buildings,” he said. Varney said he has the same philosophy for ghost towns he might if he did think souls were looking after them - not to touch anything or take anything from them as a souvenir. I’m not a believer in ghosts or spirits, but I had the strangest feeling I was being watched.” It was as if people had seen me coming and had gone up into the hills until I went away. As a drove into town, which has got lots of old houses, a couple of old businesses, I parked and I had the oddest feeling. There was a paved street with a yellow line going down the middle. “I was given the keys to get into the town by Kaiser Steel (Corporation), so I knew nobody could be in that town,” Varney remembers. It was a time when Varney, who doesn’t believe in ghosts, went to explore a town that is no longer on the map. Avid ghost town enthusiast and author Philip Varney rarely mixes the definition of ghost town with that of a haunted place.īut in one instance, he said he might have.

Arizona's Ghost Towns and Mining Camps by Philip Varney