Spokane is a little ghost town in Custer County that was once a mining community. Now, nature is taking over the buildings left behind. Check it out!
Spokane was founded in 1890, along with a mine by the same name. Today, several buildings still stand, including a few homes and the schoolhouse.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube The hope was that the mine would produce gold, silver, zinc and other minerals, but it never created much profit. Though Spokane had a brief heyday in the mid-1920s, it became a ghost town in the 1940s.
The windows of the buildings are long gone, and the exposure to the elements has really taken a toll.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube
Peeling wallpaper, buckled floorboards and crumbling ceilings are all that’s left.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube
In one home, a stove sits with its doors wide open, and the floor is covered by a blanket of pine cones at least a foot deep.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube
In some of the buildings, trees, vines and weeds are growing right up through the floors.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube
A few abandoned cars sit in the yards, full of pine needles, grass and dirt.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube
Spokane sits on public property, so you can explore this little ghost town for yourself, but please use extreme caution.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube These buildings can be very dangerous. Caved-in roofs can collapse without warning, and you could find yourself falling through the floorboards into cement cellars underneath a house if you aren’t careful. Your best bet is to explore from the outside of the properties, looking in.
Kevin Kumpf/YouTube
The hope was that the mine would produce gold, silver, zinc and other minerals, but it never created much profit. Though Spokane had a brief heyday in the mid-1920s, it became a ghost town in the 1940s.
These buildings can be very dangerous. Caved-in roofs can collapse without warning, and you could find yourself falling through the floorboards into cement cellars underneath a house if you aren’t careful. Your best bet is to explore from the outside of the properties, looking in.
Another safe way to see this ghost town is by watching this video posted by Kevin Kumpf on YouTube.com:
Have you ever visited Spokane?
Here’s another abandoned place in South Dakota to explore.
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