It can be completely deserted, have a resident or two, or retain genuine signs of vitality, but Varney has eliminated those towns he considers either too populated or too empty of significant remains. He defines a ghost town as a town with a population markedly decreased from its peak, one whose initial reason for settlement no longer keeps people there. Smelters, homes, stores, and the remarkable wooden American Hotel can be found in Cerro Gordo, which the author calls ""California's best true ghost town.""Seasoned back-roads traveler Philip Varney, who has visited nearly a hundred ghost towns in the area, provides a down-to-earth and helpful guide to more than sixty of the best in Southern California and nearby Inyo and Kern counties. One of the best-preserved stamp mills in the West is in Skidoo. Most are remnants of once-colorful mining towns, though there are also railroad towns, a World War II relocation center, a promoter's swindle, and a failed socialist colony. The ghost towns of Southern California-some dramatic and nearly intact, others devastated-are well worth visiting. Seasoned back-roads traveller, Philip Varney, who has visited nearly 100 ghost towns in the area, provides here a down-to-earth and helpful guide to more than 60 of the best in Southern California and nearby Inyo and Kern counties.
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