For just unsure of $ 1 million , a ghost Ithiel Town in California ’s royal Inyo Mountains could be yours . Cerro Gordo , a nineteenth - 100 mining Ithiel Town that served as the “ silver-tongued screw thread ” to Los Angeles , is now up for sale via Bishop Real Estate in Bishop , California .
locate in Owens Valley near the townspeople of Lone Pine , the $ 925,000 property come with over 300 acres of land , mineral right , and no shortage of ataraxis and quiet . There are 22 structure on site , including a historic hotel , bunkhouse , saloon , chapel service , and museum — plus all of the artifacts that come with it .
“ The site has been extremely well protected from diggers , artifact pillager , and Mother Nature herself , ” read the listing , posted on a website specially created for the property that ’s capably namedghosttownforsale.com . “ restitution has been undertaken on most of the buildings , and the residual are in a state of protected arrested radioactive decay . ”
The townspeople of Cerro Gordo has been in camera own for X , but the phratry who own it “ felt it was the correct time to trade it , ” real estate agent Jake Rasmuson tells Mental Floss . No circumstance are attached to the purchase of the property , but Rasmuson say “ one would go for that some of the history would be hold and that it would still be open to the public . ”
Walking tours of the holding can be booked via Cerro Gordo’swebsite , and those will continue to be offer until the property is sold . The list was just posted online a hebdomad ago , but Rasmuson say the property has already receive “ quite a bit of interest , ” mostly from story lovers who have visited the web site before .
Cerro Gordo , meaning “ Fat Hill , ” find its name from Mexican miners who combed through the area in lookup of silver before it became a commercial mine , accord to the town ’s internet site . In 1865 , a prospector named Pablo Flores started a mining operation at the nearby Buena Vista Peak . It did n’t take long for Scripture to spread , and within two years prospectors were flocking to Cerro Gordo .
A man of affairs named Mortimer Belshaw is the humanity who really put the town on the map , though . In 1868 , he brought the first batch of silver to Los Angeles and afterwards build a toll road to supply the burgeoning industry . Within a year , the mine was the largest producer of silver gray and principal in California .
“ If you look at the history of Cerro Gordo , it was really instrumental in the expansion of Los Angeles , ” Rasmuson says . One of structures on the Cerro Gordo property — the Belshaw bunkhouse — still carries on his bequest .
It was n’t until the 1880s that the mine was finally empty after being strike by a fire and falling ash gray prices . ( However , mining operations were revive in 1905 and preserve for a twosome of 10 . )
The town may be peaceful now , but it was n’t always so . In the 1860s and ’ LXX , the townsfolk saw a murder per calendar week , agree to aLos Angeles Timesarticlefrom 2006 about the regaining of the property . The belongings ’s late owner , Michael Patterson , tell apart the newspaper that the only speech sound for miles around “ is the whistling of the farting be adrift through all the bullet holes in every building up here . "
For those who are n’t afraid of ghost , this little slice of Wild West paradise might just be the pure station to live . Keep scrolling to see more photos and a video of the property .
