This is just a chapter within it.". (slide sound). There's divorce papers. All-New Lockdown We Recommend. And hes still around. Especially since there was no guarantee that water was still there. Underwood went to sleep in the nearby Belshaw House. Oh man the worst onesThe Westworld one, you know, to have robots roaming around. Despite the challenges, Ive never been happier. And there's miners in the cemetery here there's a cemetery onsite with like 400 or 500 graves and there's miners buried there that died from that major pandemic. That week was full of phone calls, bartering, no paperwork to anybody.fAmory: Brent had a business partner in all of this. Cerro Gordo. And this is the room that I believe in about 1880 there was a card game gone awry and a guy got shot. Originally the town had 500 buildings, but now only 20 remain, Underwood said. How long are the contractors stay here? And he kind of turned and said they left two weeks ago, which was a bit spooky because I know I saw somebody in there the night before. The abandoned American Hotel in Cerro Gordo, California. The miners had packed the walls with newspaper for insulation. Amory: Two hundred miles north of Los Angeles, in the middle of stunningly beautiful nowhere, and at the end of a long dirt road that requires all-wheel-drive on a good weather day, sits Cerro Gordo, California. When the town was put on the market in 2018, Underwood founder of the hostel HK Austin --got a message from a friend that joked, "I know you're looking for a bigger project. We came to the saloon. See ya then! . 1797 Coleman Cemetery Road, Cerro Gordo, NC 28430. QuickFacts Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. However, Cerro Gordo is the real deal! So if you get a couple feet of snow, there's no way out. Brent: And the building was built in 1891. Matthew Wilson Brent Underwood in Cerro Gordo. At one point, the town averaged around a murder a week, and miners used to put sandbags in their bunks to stop stray bullets during the night. Ghost Adventures: The Graber Farm Entity 12 Photos. The old Latin phrase "memento mori" is a favorite of 33 year-old Brent Underwood's. Brent: Luckily, the snow melted to the point where I started to drive myself two hours to the hospital with appendicitis. Thanks for listening, and well be back with a new episode next Friday. At its height, hundreds of dwellings dotted the landscape, while miners sought their fortunes. Amory: Brent also showed us the mechanic garage-turned-church-turned-movie theatre. Coincidentally, Underwood found a copy of "The Shining" among the VHS tapes in town. I have a view of Mt. Brent Underwood, 32, purchased Cerro Gordo for $1.4million in 2018 after becoming fascinated by its seclusion and sinister past, which once saw one murder every week and is now rumored to be. And he didnt stop there. During its heyday in the mid-late 1800s, it's believed to have produced half a billion dollars worth of silver, adjusted for inflation. It just puts what you're going through into perspective. Start here. What Underwood thought had been fireworks had actually been the propane tanks in the hotel's kitchen exploding from the heat of the fire. We are working desperately to get the building framed and enclosed by the winter time so we can keep working on it this winter. Todays episode: Ghost town. The ground hadn't been disturbed in over 100 years. Brent: The May 1st opening is definitely out the window. Often I arrive to find that the portals collapsed. Conglomerate Mesa's charcoal smelters helped give birth 150 years ago to the nearby rip-roaring silver town of Cerro Gordo, where ingots were produced and shipped off to the small pueblo of Los. At one point, there was an average of a murder a week, and miners used to line their bunks with sandbags to stop stray bullets in the night. Here are a few things Ive learned along the way. What Los Angeles now is, is mainly due to it. Diagonally across the road from the American Hotel, rock retaining walls . Underwood dreams of a beautiful pair he can display in his museum. At it's peak, over 4,500 miners called Cerro Gordo home. Remember how Brent mentioned caretaker? Hes in it for the long hauljust like Brent. And Sam and Colby, these paranormal guys, came out looking for treasure. During its heyday in the mid-late 1800s, it's believed to have produced half a billion dollars worth of silver, adjusted for inflation. 0:00 / 53:08 Two Years Living In An Abandoned Ghost Town! It's the first building you saw when you came to town," Underwood said. Whenever friends or family came to town, I would take them there first. A guy named Jon Bier. To shower, I warm a rubber bag of water in the sun and then let it dribble down on me from above. Yes. So hes been able to find a lot of other positives in these several months of solitude. Lot/Land. According to Los Angeles News, "To [Los Angeles], Cerro Gordo trade is invaluable. A man living in an abandoned ghost town in California has opened up a sealed mine shaft, which he reckons hasn't been explored since 1878. During the coronavirus pandemic, he has been living there alone for the past month in his own personal ghost town. "It seems to live in one of the old mine tunnels. People that are really into that piece of clothing will pay upwards of $100,000 for this jeans. Underwood decided to social distance at the mining town so the primary caretaker, Robert Louis Desmarais, could be with his wife during the pandemic. Cerro Gordo did get a second chance in the early 1900s with the mining of zinc, but then the zinc ran out too. Looking for your own Cerro Gordo? Legend had it there was a sump 700 feet underground, with an old pump that stopped working. Amory: Brent bought a ghost town and he wants to turn into one of the coolest, more interesting places to visit in the world. Underwood guesses that it might have been a rabbit. This ghost town has actually had one mortal resident for the last 23 years. There are even some pops of blue left in the old fabric! And so to be up here during this major pandemic, it's a really kind of trippy, like a flash into to the past, connection to history, and to me, there's this Latin term thats memento mori, or remember that you're going to die. Ghost Adventures: Horror in Biggs 10 Photos. And he and his business partners have put more than a million dollars on the table in a big. By Brent Underwood and as told to Clint Carter, History of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, Make Your Own Smoker Out of a 55-Gallon Barrel, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. If you want that too, we would deeply appreciate your contribution to our work in any amount. And so Los Angeles, the time is kind of a sleepy little town and the demand of Cerro Gordo forced Los Angeles to develop quicker and forced Los Angeles into developed into what it is today. And its all because of the goodwill from the local community. Tell us about your reaction to this episode or send us a story idea. Nearly $500 million worth of minerals were pulled from the hills. Within a month, Brent had purchased Cerro Gordo, California, an abandoned silver mining town, with the help of friends and investors. I found this old bottle of whiskey, like who knows how old it was, it was pretty disgusting. Brent Underwood, a YouTuber living in an abandoned ghost town, trying to bring it back to life, loves to delve into the past. ", "I came up here looking for an adventure and I found that," Underwood said. Amory: Who is Robert? Brent: And the first thing they did was just hand me the stack of one hundred keys, you know the craziest keyring you ever seen, for every building and every lock and everything here. It's time to, you know, figure out what to do with the property.Amory: One of the things Brent and his co-owners could do with the property is go back to its roots. Like most other mining towns around the. Amory: But those days for Cerro Gordo are long gone. "The electrical is over 100 years old, and over the years, they had just been tying into that," Underwood said. Cerro Gordo is going to be here after I'm gone. They got here within an hour, which is remarkable, but that hour it felt like a century when you're watching your hopes, dreams, life savings, love, history thatll never be replaced go up in flames. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. It's truly hard for me to believe that. Ben: Its named for the glory days. Underwood finds the coincidence to be eerie. "I went in, turned them off, re-locked the building, and they were turned on again that night," Underwood said. And I don't know, it's just, these people lived and died and kind of gave their life to this mountain. Brent: Just off of the saloon is the infamous card room. Underwood, 32, bought Cerro Gordo on Friday the 13th of July, 2018. "I'm a Florida boy, so a couple feet of snow to me is something else," Underwood said. Amory: Oh yeah He got appendicitis during all this. Then he got priced out of New York, and he started looking for other prospects. We have the basement done after a long battle to get concrete and cinderblock up here. "I think the mentality for miners was get in, get money, and get out. Brent: I'm at the bar and the saloon ever closes here at Cerro Gordo. When silver was discovered on Buena. For the rest of you, you can see a picture of the basement progress on the Cerro Gordo Instagram page, as well as tons of other pictures of artifacts hes found, old mining shafts hes repelled down, and even some alpacas on Brent Underwoods and Cerro Gordos instagram pages. We recently had a massive flash flood however (as part of the larger Death Valley flooding) and it completely washed out our road. The weather outside was a frigid 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Hello everyone! Cerro Gordo, the California ghost town that's for sale | CNN This California ghost town is for sale By Madison Park, CNN Updated 11:50 AM EDT, Thu June 14, 2018 Link Copied! Brent: My way to handle potential ghosts is, I know where they potentially are and I just avoid that. Its also where Brent became a believer in ghosts. Weird property news generally travels fastest by word of mouth. Ben: Brent is following a dream through a pandemic. Underwood spoke with Insider about his experiences in the ghost town and how he's been spending his time. Near 2459 Peanut Worley Road LOT 1, Cerro Gordo, NC 28430. Underwood, a marketer, plans to rebuild, and a GoFundMe page has been set up where people can help with the costs of the construction. Underwood shows off the jeans in the video, revealing how the seams are still intact, and an image of the Levis logo has even survived. Yes, the other buildings will be 400 years old but they're still all going to be really old buildings. On his channel, Ghost Town Living, he details his attempts at making the abandoned ghost town, Cerro Gordo, habitable again. Depends on who you ask, but there's rumored to be an additional 500 million dollars worth of silver here. I've never taken a long road trip," Underwood said. 215K followers View more on Instagram 20,719 likes Add a comment. So the battle always continues up here! There are bullet holes in the walls, blood stains on the floor of the saloon, and a cemetery filled with the graves of hundreds of miners. According to Underwood, the town has a long and bloody history. Im determined to get in, and Im slowly getting close to where the entrance should be. Mining operations spanned 1866 to 1957, producing high grade silver, lead, zinc ore, and more rarely gold ore and copper ore. [1] Brent: And even saying that out loud. Like many ghost towns today, it was once a bustling mining town in the late 1800s and early 1900s. And for that reason they can be very attractive to denim collectors. But as Ive grown more comfortable with mine exploration, Ive started to occasionally dig out the entrances. We swapped out the old chemical pump for a new one, and I now have running water into my personal cabin. Some volunteered time, and others offered equipment. If I were looking for another property, I would find one like that., .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Make Your Own Smoker Out of a 55-Gallon Barrel, The 6 Most Dangerous Submarines in the World, Watch: How World-Famous Chefs Knives Are Forged, Every Single Aircraft Carrier in the World, Why the U.S. You know, not a single bit. After contacting the broker, Underwood discovered that a hundred or so people had already expressed interest. Amory: This feels very Scooby Doo. That is clearly not happening any time soon. One of them recommended that I start posting my daily mine adventures on TikTok. That's where we would have people sit around and swap stories.". He writes: These days construction on the American Hotel is in full swing. Brent: It's particularly interesting to be up here right now because. And so I think that kind of like determination and belief helps get you through the nights where you're stressed a little bit about finances or ghosts or whatever else stresses you out up here. Ben: Unless youre a NEW kind of prospector with an active imagination.Amory: So lets get to know Cerro Gordos newest owner, Brent. Underwood had planned to make a grocery run every one or two weeks, but the heavy snow has blocked the road. Theyre part of this familiar history, Americas prospecting history. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Underwood, who runs a YouTube Channel called Ghost Town living, was very excited by this rare discovery. With over 24,000-square-feet of buildings remaining and over 300 acres . Amory: The show featuring stories found in the vast ecosystem of online communitiescalled Reddit. I think if you're in a town like this, when you're not expecting to see anybody or hear anybody, [and] nothing could be moving or happening, when something does move or happen you obviously first jump to ghosts.". So it stays pretty temperate luckily. The hotel will be 300 years old. The town's previous owner also showed up to support Underwood in his time of need. Laborers developed Cerro Gordo at 10,000 feet and around the Union mine shaft. So it wasn't necessarily the best. 4.89 Acres. You know, as a preface to that, I believe in ghosts now. Like, this true piece of American history was for sale for by private owners. Brent Underwood has had quite the spring and summer. Theyre goats! And, much like its geography, the town itself has had epic highs and dramatic lows. of laborers who would initiate operations at Cerro Gordo immediately. The nearest town was miles away. The initiative was part of the aqueduct program that inspired the movie Chinatown, and now I have to truck water up the gravel road in limited supplies. "The briefcase just had everything about these miners' lives their highs, their lows, their bank statements, their divorce settlements, lawsuits, mining claims, love letters, hate letters," Underwood said. Cerro Gordo dried up years ago when Los Angeles redirected its water supply and drained Owens Lake, which used to sit just below the town. He was going to use the rest of the pandemic to get the buildings in even better shape before visitors set foot in Cerro Gordo. Cerro Gordo was developing too. According to Underwood, the town has a long and bloody history. Cerro Gordo is a ghost town in the Inyo Mountains near Lone Pine, California. And I think that, like Cerro Gordo is a giant memento mori. The next night, the light was back on. The problem was I didnt have even 10% of $1.4 million, he says. And when it gets to come and say, I'll be able to recount back to that, I go, Hey, you know, you're staying in this part of Austin's history. It took nearly an hour for the rickety old lift to drop us 700 feet. This treasure: a pair of century-old Levis. So they had a lot of contacts. In one of his recent trips into the mine at Cerro Gordo, which we first saw on Laughing Squid, Underwood discovered a treasure hed been hunting for 18 months. Jon has a PR firm. Its 5,000 residents were left to their own devices by law enforcement, since it's three hours outside of Los Angeles. Mix and sound design by Matt Reed. I hadnt, and for good reason. Maybe add some cabins on the grounds for people to stay in. Somebody just texted me a Craigslist listing for an old library in Vermont that has 50,000 books from the 1700s onward, says Underwood. We want to hear from you! Everyone who makes a monthly donation will get access to exclusive bonus content. Where did he come from? So he was just like an absolute pro. And the next morning, I asked Robert, the caretaker, Hey, Robert. According to Underwood, Cerro Gordo was established in 1865 and went on the be the most prosperous silver mine in Californias history. Once the boom of silver ran out, the inhabitants of the town abandoned it. Imagine how iconic the blue jeans are and Levis invented the very first pair that was worn by miners. Shipping 1,000 tons of ore daily, Cerro Gordo became the largest producer of zinc carbonates in the United States. These jeans are some of the oldest around. Amory: Also, did he say, ghost town? QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. Brent Underwood is probably in one of the safest places you could possibly be during a pandemic. Everything dies. When nearby Owens Lake was drained, and its water redirected to Los Angeles as part of the LA Aqueduct program of the early 1900s. But Brent is motivated by what he hopes Cerro Gordo will someday become. And redditors had ideas for him. Cerro Gordo, California is an abandoned silver mining town tucked between the tallest mountain in the continental United States Mount Whitney and the lowest point in North America, Death Valley. The heat had been so intense it had melted the truck's tail lights off. Since then I've explored abandoned mines, hiked in beautiful settings, rode my dirtbike all over the place, rebuild cabins, and fully fallen in love with this town.I want to thank all of you so much for the support and following along over these past two years. And so I took what water buckets we could get and poured them all on the hill to prevent it from going up there before the police came, before the fire department came. Amory: Brent did another AMA a few weeks into the pandemic when he had a LOT of time on his hands, and he got some pretty sobering advice in the comment section. And I looked out my window and I saw a red hue. Brent: So I worked at an investment bank for about a month and I quit. Ben: You dont have to believe in ghosts to know that Cerro Gordo is haunted by its past. It's a little bit invigorating, like the fact remains that everybody is going to die. It was the mine in California. Today it has just 20, and most of that loss is likely due to fire from lightning strikes or shoddy electricity. After the fire, some of those locals saw me struggling out here alone, and they just started showing up. When I find a pile, I pinpoint a nearby landmark that looks like a good spot to start my hike in, and then I head for that spot. The water was there. Amory: Memento mori. Amory: But then. And he texted me like 3 in the morning almost as a joke. But when we arrived, we found it. This episode was written by me and Ben. Tall, skinny, red hair. In 2018, Brent Underwood submitted a winning, $1.4 million bid on a network of dried-up silver mines in Southern California. But there is a dynamite vault here at Cerro Gordo. Oh and heads up that crappy internet we were talking about is crappy. Ben: Whats the worst one? Jun 14, 2018 From time to time, we see replica Old West towns with period antiques and ramshackle structures come up for sale. I have a glass here. "My goal is for 300 years from now Cerro Gordo to still exist. Trying to get his home internet to work. He bought Cerro Gordo, a former silver mining town with a murderous history, for $1.4 million in 2018. But I escaped that. The town had previously been featured on the paranormal show "Ghost Adventures." They pulled something like, adjusted for inflation, five hundred million dollars worth of silver out of the mountain. There's more information about helping the town rebuild HERE. All work and no play During the early stages of the coronavirus lockdown, Underwood packed up his truck and headed to California. Amory: These buildings are also full of stories. I don't think that that's really what we want to do. Took my money, traveled for a long time as many people do. Do you want to be the first who gets the news directly to your mailbox? Amory: It was Brents plan to be here, kicking around this abandoned town, in 2020. The initiative was part of the aqueduct program that. And those phone calls they were making were to friends, colleagues, former clients pretty much anyone they could think of. It was something that went through the town. The property includes 336 acres of high-desert terrain and the remains of a mining boomtown called Cerro Gordo, or Fat Hill.. Underwood plans to have an archaeological dig to search for artifacts where the hotel once stood. According to Underwood, Cerro Gordo was "established in 1865 and went on the be the most prosperous silver mine in California's history." Once the boom of silver ran out, the inhabitants of the. Ben: Why is his internet router running off of a battery? "It kind of makes me slow down a little bit, which I think is important in times like this.". And so little discoveries like that just kind of keep me going. Ghost towns, and ghost mining towns, are pretty common out West. Not denim, that was already created, but blue jeans for California silver miners in the 1870s. In 2018, Brent Underwood bought the California ghost town of Cerro Gordo for $1.4 million. Amory: Brents spending his days on a rusty patch of the Inyo Mountains in the shadow of a low peak among a group of old buildings. Does it have good internet yet? It was bright, dry, and sunny rather than cold and snowy. Brent: If you look at other ghost towns, they typically go to the museum or almost like Disneyworld end of it, where there's fake shootouts at noon in the middle of the street and there's like everyone's in Western wear. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. Underwood had originally planned to open the town in May for an overnight experience, but understands that the coronavirus has delayed those plans for now. So to me, I thought that these contractors were still staying there. After buying an entire abandoned ghost town in California, a man is stuck out there due to a snowstorm and the coronavirus, 56 abandoned places around the world and the eerie stories behind them, THEN AND NOW: What 10 abandoned places in the US looked like before they became ruins, 14 haunting photos of abandoned palaces and castles around the world. The main mining prospect was silver, but the area also produced zinc and lead. QuickFacts Cerro Gordo County, Iowa; Humboldt County, Iowa. Seven months ago, after a friend kept asking how it was to live here, I posted a few YouTube videos. Ben: Man, you better stay friends with him. You know, I've seen the show. Cerro Gordo was once known for mining silver and lead, and between 1865 and 1938 was the largest producer of the two before its resources dried up. . In its heyday, Cerro Gordo had 400 wooden buildings. He owns a pretty substantial resort here in California that is off the grid. Id heard stories about water leaking into one of the mines. It's very difficult to escape the thought of death here, whether it's the miners died from the Spanish influenza or the ones that died in a gunfights here or died underground. And I think it's helped clarify that, that the answer to that is Cerro Gordo. Which he did, in Brooklyn in his early 20s. Underwood can communicate with his employees and business partners and check in on family members, but the internet has been too slow for streaming sites like Netflix. A standout scene from this 1993 Oscar-nominated Harrison Ford thriller takes place when a prison bus collides with a train, the wreckage from which Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) escapes to freedom.. Later in the day, a sensor that signals if someone is approaching the town went off twice, but no vehicle ever showed up. I really believe in Cerro Gordo. Brent: Somewhere on the property here, I won't say exactly where, because I think it's illegal to say exactly where. From this abandoned town, now reached by eight miles of steep and winding dirt road, once flowed as much as $13,000,000 in silver and lead bullion. I would love to have waterslides up here, but I'd love to have a running sink first. Ben: Every once in a while, do you go up the bar and like, slam your hand on the bar and be like, "Whiskey. Ghost . Its tucked between the tallest mountain in the continental U.S. Mount Whitney and lowest point in North America, Death Valley. Within the month, Brent, his business partner Jon Bier, and a handful of friends-turned-investors had purchased Cerro Gordo for $1.4 million with a plan to revive the town for visitors while preserving its history. Brent: And it was so prosperous that like the demand of Cerro Gordo and its four thousand five hundred residents that many people at its peak, that it demanded a larger port city to supply all the supplies. I think it's an important skill to have as a saloon owner. Levi Strauss & Company began making jeans in 1853, with miners in mind, but their jeans are still iconic today. Amory: Brent also has a strong sense of what he does not want Cerro Gordo to become. During that time, Underwood dealt with isolation, a wandering bobcat on the property, and a dwindling food supply. . Brent: Sometime just before 2 o'clock in the morning, I heard what I thought was fireworks, and I thought the first thing was some kids had come to town and had gone into the parking lot and set off some fireworks. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. "It was fun. ", Brent: Yeah. A heavy snowstorm has trapped Underwood in Cerro Gordo, but he has enjoyed the scenery and he's even taken up astrophotography. "I would get too freaked out.". I don't know too much about mining, but apparently there's a vein. Brent: If they were gonna be somewhat comfortable, let's make them even more comfortable. I followed the advice, and within a month, I had a million followers. These hundred-year-old Levis are an unmistakable tie between past and future. Amory: Do you have what I would call, "Oh, shit days" where you're like, oh, shit, what have I done? We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. One day, out of the blue, a friend texted him the listing along with a note: lol, this might be up your alley. The friend was correct. $44,900. "As grim as it is, they're still down there.". Not now. We had to delay opening further to clean the mess and implement fire safety in the existing buildings. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, Its Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. Underwood was in good spirits when he returned to Cerro Gordo. And like, we just, like, drank the whiskey and we had a great time. Brent: And so I mentioned earlier that they pulled something like 500 million dollars worth of silver out of mountain. Cerro Gordo was theirs. Theres one mine right now that Ive been digging at for two weeks with a loader. USS Ford Finally Deploys, Crabs Could Help Replace Lithium-Ion Batteries, The Worlds Oceans Are Dying Right Before Our Eyes, The Most Powerful Telescopes on Earthand Beyond. A photographer created 3D models of abandoned places that allow you to explore inside their forgotten walls, A man who has taken photos of the Mojave Desert for 16 years using the same camera has found everything from pet cemeteries to ghost towns, 16 long-abandoned hotels around the world and the stories behind them, These 'ghost villages' in Indonesia are all that remain after years of eruptions from the volcanic Mount Sinabung.
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