Bridal Veil, Oregon

Bridal Veil Falls is a landmark along the Historic Columbia River Highway on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge. About a half mile away is Bridal Veil, an active timber town in the late 1800s. The town is gone, but the post office remains active.

“There is very little if anything left of the original town,” said postal clerk Damien Chakwin from his desk inside a converted, century-old tool building that now serves as office space for the popular zip code among brides, 97010. The priority mail here is hand-canceled wedding invitations with a Bridal Veil postmark. While no official records exist, Chakwin estimates as many as 4,000 envelopes pass through the post office each year.

Pondosa, Oregon

Pondosa, about 23 miles northeast of Baker City on Highway 203, is the unofficial “Geographic Center of the 50 United States.” At least, that’s what a sign there lauds (and calculations are based on the inclusion of Alaska and Hawaii, for those doing the math).

Pondosa was a small timber town of 500 people for nearly 35 years until the timber business ceased in the late 1950s. Fire swept through the town a short time later, burning everything to the ground except a 15-room boarding house.

That building still stands and serves as a small general store. It is home to town owners Bob Bennett, daughter Lori Brock and their family. Visit for a cold drink and ice cream and a snapshot of the town that at one time was going to be named Centerville.

Shaniko, Oregon

Highway 97 makes a sharp turn north about 80 miles north of Bend in Central Oregon. This was the wool shipping capital of the world more than 100 years ago. While it’s now a ghost town, local residents hang onto Shaniko’s history.

The Columbia Southern Railway tracks connected to Shaniko in the late 1800s. By 1901, more than 4 million pounds of fleece were loaded into train cars each year and shipped away. Business was so good that the railroad company constructed the Shaniko Hotel in 1901.

Ten years later, a new rail line overlooked Shaniko. Passenger service declined and eventually ceased in the 1930s. The Oregon Centennial Commission designated Shaniko a ghost town in 1959, and the last train through Shaniko left the station in 1966.

The Shaniko Hotel, restored with 18 rooms in 2023, welcomes guests again. A cafe, gift shop, and an even smaller record shop, Dead Format Records, occupy space in the same block of E Street. Weathered buildings steps away testify to the community’s history.

Bayhorse, Idaho

Silver ran deep in Idaho’s veins in the 1800s, and ghost towns across the state remain as testaments to local mining history. A good example is the ghost town of Bayhorse, part of the Land of Yankee Fork State Park.

Four mines produced silver and lead in this area, leading at least 300 people to live in Bayhorse by 1882. It was profitable; more than $10 million in minerals had been extracted by 1898–more than $300 million in today’s dollars. But production stopped in 1925, and by the mid-20th century, Bayhorse had faded.

Its past comes back to life at the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park interpretive center north of Bayhorse, near the town of Challis. Exhibits, artifacts, a short movie and a gold panning station help illustrate the mining life.

“We’re an homage to central Idaho’s mining history, a look at how the West was settled, and the struggles those people went through,” Park Ranger Joe Fihe said. “We show how hard the life was extracting silver and lead from the mountains.”

In Bayhorse, a Wells Fargo bank, jail and doctor’s office still exist on site. Take a ranger-led tour or follow a self-guiding map at your own speed to see the buildings from times gone by.

Silver City, Idaho

As an epicenter of silver mining 150 years ago, Silver City once had all the trappings of a boom town—75 businesses, 300 homes, eight saloons, two hotels and Idaho’s first daily newspaper, the Owyhee Daily Avalanche.

Originally constructed in Ruby City, 190 miles to the east, the Idaho Hotel was taken apart and its north wing reconstructed in Silver City in 1867 to accommodate the growth. Four years later, a new saloon wing was added, followed by a billiard room and eventually a cafe. When mining operations stopped decades later, Silver City faded. The Idaho Hotel closed in 1942 and remained so for 30 years.

The hotel is now a hub of activity once again, according to owner Jerri Nelson, who operates the hotel with 13 rooms and a busy restaurant from Memorial Day weekend to mid-October or the first freeze, whichever comes first. “You wouldn’t believe it’s a ghost town on a Saturday or Sunday,” Nelson said.