Yes,  I watch  ghost hunting shows. I can admit it. I think they’re fun, when the ‘hunters’ don’t take themselves too seriously. A while ago, we watched Ghost Adventures where the three investigators visited Vulture Ghost town.  Being a fan of many things decomposing, I was fascinated with this place that was practically in my backyard.

It took a two summers but we finally made it out to Vulture Mine. Much had changed in the interim. The Mine had been sold and the new owners were planning to begin mining for gold again.  As such, only part of the ghost town was open and only for a limited time on Saturdays.

The tour started near the old gas station. Since the mine was closed by Presidential order in the 1940s, I nearly cried at the price of gasoline.

The assay office (along with other offices) was built out of rock from the mines. It is estimated to have over a quarter million dollars of gold ore inside. The owner is hopeful of restoring the building from the proceeds of the mine and make Vulture into a mining museum.

This is what remains of the bar. Of course, you probably had to be careful where you stepped when it was open for business. The building behind it was in fairly good shape (it was the kitchen) and we were able to walk through and see some of the items that had been found on site and preserved.

The bunkhouses are falling down but still have residents. In this case, Africanized bees. Yep, we didn’t get too close.

This is was the machine shop.  I love the tin roof.

This was the bordello. Half of it remains fairly intact, but the kitchen has been opened up to enjoy the breeze.

This is Wickenburg’s cabin. The vents were probably used to circulate air as well as to shoot out of.

The hanging tree. Not sure this needs an explanation. Oddly enough it is literally right next to Wickenburgs cabin. And given the size, I’d say they only hung short people:-)

The pit. This will expand when the gold mine  is once again worked.

For now the mine is a series of tunnels, like the picture above (yes, that’s the current entrance). But this will be a pit mine to get to the gold. Sad to think of all this beautiful scenery changed into a gaping hole. Maybe some good will come of it and Vulture will be restored and become a place of interest to visit. The owner did say, he’s considering making the pit into an RV park once the gold is gone. With water only 600-700 feet down (that’s shallow here in the valley), it may even become like a quarry on the east coast.