Thematic index
Farming & Colony Ghost Towns
Settlements built on the promise of water and soil that the land eventually withdrew — flooded river towns, failed irrigation colonies, and homestead communities the drought took.
Grafton, UT
1859–1944Verified Ghost Town
An adobe schoolhouse under Zion's cliffs — the most filmed ghost town in the West.
St. Thomas, NV
1865–1938Vanished Place
The town Hoover Dam drowned — and the drought gave back.
Metropolis, NV
1911–1947Vanished Place
A prairie metropolis planned on paper. The desert had other plans.