Human Sperit

The 1930’s was a troubling time for farmers, especially for farmers in the Great Plains. The dust storms only added to the devastation for farmers. The dust storms lasted from 1930 to about 1936, but in some places they were seeing storms until 1940.
Most cities in the Great Plains were agricultural towns, the families’ only source of income. By 1940, over 2 million people had abandoned their towns, nearly 200,000 had come to California. Since they couldn’t grow their crops they no longer could afford to pay for their homes. The homes in turn went in to foreclosure. For many farmers the only way out was to go to California, it was suppose to be the land of many jobs.
As a result of many people fleeing the Dust Bowl, an estimated amount of 50,000 people per month in 1936, most towns were left empty and ghostlike. These towns were given the name ghost towns. Towns were left desolate, with only the reminisce of what use to be. There were only empty buildings and houses. Families, such as the Joads, featured in The Grapes of Wrath, packed all their belongings that they could fit on a truck, and left Oklahoma on Route 66, leaving behind memories and familiarity.It is very interesting to learn how and why ghost towns came to be deserted. Below are some various ghost towns. Some were deserted for strange reasons.

• Coal City, Utah, was born out of coal mining. Unfortunately, the Great Depression struck the town harshly.
• The strangest ghost town, Bathsheba, Oklahoma, was founded by women for women. The feminism went so far as to not include males of any kind: men, roosters, bulls, etc. Population was 33 at one time. Twelve deserted the town after a week. A woman supposedly haunts the place.
• Wayne was another coal mining town in the 1910s that was hit hard by the Great Depression. It became a ghost town.