One of finest
true ghost towns in the American West, Vulture City grew up around
the mine discovered by Henry Wickenburg. Twelve miles southwest of
the city that now bears Wickenburg’s name, the Vulture Mine and
Vulture City once had a population of almost 5,000 souls. Its history
was marked by violence and tragedy. Eighteen of Vulture City’s
former residents swung to eternity at the end of a hangman’s noose
dangling from the branches of the 'Hanging Tree' an ancient ironwood
tree that still thrives next to the ruins of Henry Wickenburg’s old
cabin. More died in robberies or through many other acts of terminal
lawlessness. A few of those souls are said to haunt the many
buildings of the decaying town.
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| Vulture City December 1880 |
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| Old buildings, many still standing, and the things inside them are true treasures. |
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| The ceiling in the main cook house. These claw foot bath tubs ere great. This is the bar... the walls came tumbling down! |
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| A beautifully weathered bed set. The kitchen sink, the knife block and the cutting board. |
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| The door to the post office, established on Oct. 4, 1880 and was discontinued on April 24, 1897. Literally everything is falling apart. |
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| Simple things in life... door knobs, a wash tub, an ice box, a cast iron stove and oven! |
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| Mine carts, a mine lift, water pipes (used to bring water from miles away), some way cool gizmo that I loved because of the way the wood was formed around the medal. |
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| Artifacts are everywhere! The tour guilds were wonderful. The mind itself was rather scary. The miners were brilliant crazy men! The sign says it all. DANGER!!! The temperature the day of our tour was in the high 90's low 100's, but the air coming up from the mine shaft was chilly! |
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| Courageous Crazy Men |
When President Franklin Roosevelt
closed the mine in 1942 (WW II)
people left believing they would return in six months.
The mine never reopened. Almost overnight a once
thriving community became a ghost town.
The day we went on this on this adventure was
"National Cowboy Day"! How Cool Is That!
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