{"id":56929,"date":"2024-08-28T21:38:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=56929"},"modified":"2024-08-30T21:48:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T19:48:25","slug":"ogilby-california-a-ghost-town-with-only-a-cemetery-left-in-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/08\/28\/ogilby-california-a-ghost-town-with-only-a-cemetery-left-in-the-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Ogilby, California: A ghost town with only a cemetery left in the desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ghost towns are usually places where we can see abandoned and ruined buildings, in better or worse condition.<\/p>\n

La Estrella, the beautiful town of Teruel that its last two inhabitants have abandoned<\/a><\/rel>
\nKitsault, a perturbing town abandoned since 1983 but that seems recently evacuated<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

There are ghost towns where only the streets and a few paved roads remain, such as the famous Centralia<\/a> in Pennsylvania, United States. However, there are even more extreme cases: those of ghost towns that have been practically erased from the face of the Earth<\/strong>, as if they had never existed. One of these towns is (or was) in Imperial County, a desert area in the southeastern corner of California. Ogilby was founded in 1877 to house workers (mostly Chinese) for the Southern Pacific railroad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
A February 1937 map published by Desert Magazine showing the village of Ogilby, bottom right (Source: Clamshack<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Nevada Expeditions<\/a> notes that the town boomed in the 1880s due to the gold rush in nearby Hedges<\/strong>. By the end of the century, Ogilby had grown to have its own post office and other services. In 1916, the town benefited from the construction of a new road<\/strong> to replace the old Plank Road, the first logging road to cross the desert in 1912.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The old Ogilby railway station in a photo taken in 1913. It was destroyed in 1932 by fire. Today, almost all the foundations of it remain (Source: Clamshack<\/a>).<\/div>\n

From then on, Ogilby slowly fell into decline. Its train station burned down in 1932 and was not replaced<\/strong>, as only a few dozen people lived there by then. The post office closed in 1942, and trains stopped stopping there in 1946.<\/strong> By the early 1960s, Ogilby was abandoned and became one of the many ghost towns in the United States.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Ogilby on Google Maps. The village is indicated but nothing can be seen there (Source: Google Maps<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The most curious thing is that the buildings at Ogilby are no longer there: it is as if they had simply disappeared<\/strong>. According to Nevada Expeditions<\/a>, by 1962 there were no buildings there. They were probably demolished. Today only a few remains of what was once the station and the base of what was perhaps the local school remain. The only thing intact is its austere cemetery, created in 1878<\/strong> and of which the graves are still visible, as well as some small monuments placed more recently.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
This is where the village of Ogilby once stood. Today, there is practically nothing left of it (Photo: Google Street View<\/a>).<\/div>\n

If anyone happens to be passing through the area, the only trace of the ghost town's existence is a small green sign with the name Ogilby<\/strong> at the start of a dirt track that leads nowhere, and which begins at a lake off a paved road, called Ogilby Road (since the area is still known as Ogilby Hills). The sign refers to that road.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The sign with the name Ogilby at the start of a dirt track that leads nowhere, indicating Ogilby Road (Source: Google Street View<\/a>).<\/div>\n

A few days ago, the channel Sidetrack Adventures<\/a> posted a video visiting what little remains of this ghost town<\/strong> and telling its story:<\/p>\n