Illinois – WesternPlaces

Welcome! We have a variety of books primarily pertaining to mining camps and abandoned towns throughout the West. Learn about mining rushes, transportation (roads, railroads, stagecoaches, early autos), and other factors that caused towns to spring up in specific locations. Find out what life was really like for the residents of these towns as they boomed and then slowly faded into ghost towns. Local newspapers covered gunfights, fires, mining disasters, blizzards, and mining frauds as well as the social activities that created a sense of community.