Ghost Towns in the USA and Canada. Ghost Towns of California. List of ghost towns in California. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in California sortable by town or county.
Ghost town. 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 can sometimes 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.[1] Some ghost towns, especially those that preserve period-specific architecture, have become tourist attractions. Some examples are Bannack, Montana; Calico, California; Centralia, Pennsylvania; and Oatman, Arizona in the United States; Barkerville, British Columbia in Canada; Craco in Italy; Elizabeth Bay and Kolmanskop in Namibia; and Pripyat in Ukraine.