America is littered with ghost towns, and this Halloween is the perfect time to go explore one. Besides spook factor, many of these towns contain amazing pieces of history and stood the testament of time and the elements. Other ghost towns, however, have been rehabilitated into festive tourist towns giving it a while new image. Here are the best American ghost towns.
1. Bodie, California
According to Travel and Leisure, this ghost town is protected by a curse that bad luck will come to anyone who leaves with an artifact. Park Ranger Mark Langner says, he gets mail a few times a month from people who have stolen something - -"an old nail or a piece of glass, with an anonymous letter apologizing-they know they've done something wrong." Curse or no curse, he says, "karma is karma."
2. Bannack, Montana
Once featured on the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures", this former mining town has seen much paranormal activity. In 1862, after discovering gold, many prospectors moved to the town and as such it became the scene of many holdups, robberies and murders. In a twist, the outlaw gang leader was discovered to be Bannack's town sheriff. Currently, the town has 60 structures protected and can be explored.
3. Cahawba, Alabama
Known as "Alabama's most famous ghost town", it was the state's first capital in 1820 and became a village for freed slaves after the war. After many unfortunate floods and yellow fever epidemics, residents started moving out, and now it is known as the Old Cahawba Archaeological Park. Rumors say that a ghostly orb sometimes appears in a garden maze at one of the old houses that lie among Cahawba's abandoned streets and cemeteries.
4. Centralia, Pennsylvania
This town has been burning since 1962, with an underground fire expected to burn for at least 250 more years. The fire was caused by an uncontrolled landfill burn which sparked in its coal mine, the trade Centralia was once known for. This left 140 acres of the town scorched, with leveled homes and streets with gaping sinkholes and spouting noxious fumes.
A brave six residents still remain, determined to live in their hometown until they die. In addition, this town inspired the hit video game "Silent Hill".
5. Bulowville, Florida
Country Living says that this town was cleared of its natural forest in 1821 by Charles Bulow to establish a 2,200-acre plantation to grow sugar cane, cotton, indigo, and rice. In 1836 during the Second Seminole War, the native American Seminoles set fire to the town, but the hardy local coquina rock persisted. Today, the mill's massive ruins now rise eerily among the large oak trees that have reclaimed the land in the 150-acre Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park.
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