Editing Ghost town (section)

====United States====
{{See also|Lists of ghost towns in the United States}}
[[File:A363, Rhyolite, Nevada, USA, John S Cook and Company building, 2004.jpg|thumb|Cook Bank building in [[Rhyolite, Nevada]], a gold mining town]]
Many ghost towns or abandoned [[unincorporated area|communities]] exist in the American [[Great Plains]], the rural areas of which have lost a third of their population since 1920. Thousands of communities in the northern plains states of [[Montana]], [[Nebraska]], [[North Dakota]], and [[South Dakota]] became railroad ghost towns when a rail line failed to materialize. Hundreds of towns were abandoned as the [[Interstate highway system]] replaced the railroads as the favored means of transportation. Ghost towns are common in mining or [[mill town]]s in all the western states, and many eastern and southern states as well. Residents are compelled to leave in search of more productive areas when the resources that had created an employment boom in these towns were eventually exhausted.

Sometimes a ghost town consists of many abandoned buildings as in [[Bodie, California]], or standing ruins as in [[Rhyolite, Nevada]], while elsewhere only the foundations of former buildings remain as in [[Graysonia, Arkansas]]. Old mining camps that have lost most of their population at some stage of their history such as [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]], [[Deadwood, South Dakota|Deadwood]], [[Oatman, Arizona|Oatman]], [[Tombstone, Arizona|Tombstone]] and [[Virginia City, Montana|Virginia City]] are sometimes referred to as ghost towns although they are presently active towns and cities.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} Many U.S. ghost towns, such as [[South Pass City, Wyoming|South Pass City in Wyoming]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>Weis, Norman D. (1971). Ghost Towns of the Northwest. Caldwell, Idaho, USA: Caxton Press. {{ISBN|0-87004-358-7}}.</ref><ref name=nris>{{NRISref|2009a|dateform=dmy}}</ref>

[[File:Wickenburg Vulture Mine-Assay office-1884-1.jpg|thumb|1884 [[assay office]] in [[Vulture City, Arizona]], a gold mining town]]

Starting in 2002, an attempt to declare an official ghost town in California stalled when the adherents of the town of [[Bodie, California|Bodie]] and those of [[Calico, San Bernardino County, California|Calico]], in [[Southern California]], could not agree on the most deserving settlement for the recognition. A compromise was eventually reached—Bodie became the official state [[gold rush]] ghost town, while Calico was named the official state [[silver rush]] ghost town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/towns/ca_gold_rush_ghost_town.htm |title=California State Gold Rush Ghost Town |publisher=NetState |access-date=28 December 2011}}</ref>