The pictures were all there, the clothing was all there. Not just the land itself and the structures that are on it, but the houses were all furnished. But we didn’t really do a lot,” says Bier. “We were up there most of last summer after we bought it. And since that freaky Friday, the friends admit they haven’t done a whole lot to the property. Underwood and Bier have officially owned Cerro Gordo for one year now-the deal was finalized on Friday, July 13, 2018. We’re building something new with these amazing bones that we’ve been given.” Mortimer Belshaw (left), one of the original owners, and Remi Nadeau (right), who helped haul silver down to Los Angeles. “We want to keep the story and keep the integrity, but we’re not refurbishing a ghost town. “Our goal is to figure out how we can keep Cerro Gordo authentic without making it into a museum,” Bier tells me, explaining why this purchase was so unique. And for $1.4 million, the town-and all of its buildings, outhouses, mines, and history-was sold to two friends, Brent Underwood and Jon Bier. In June 2018, after being privately owned by one family for decades, Cerro Gordo officially went up for sale. What was once the shimmering jewel of the Owens Valley had quickly turned into a sunburnt wasteland.īut it wasn’t destined to stay that way forever… “We’re not refurbishing a ghost town” And by 1938, Cerro Gordo had officially become a ghost town. | Photo: Amanda Bungartzīut like so many mining towns before it, once the money-making resources dwindled and natural water supplies dried up, the residents started to move on. An old miner’s lantern hangs from a tree branch outside the clubhouse. Much more than just a mining den in the mountains, Cerro Gordo had blossomed into a fully functioning town, including 4,000 residents, 100 outhouses, seven saloons, and three brothels. And by 1900, roughly $17 million in precious minerals had come from Cerro Gordo (adjusted for inflation, that number is closer to $50 million today).

Over the next 50 years, silver, lead, and zinc were religiously mined from the hills. “What was once the shimmering jewel of the Owens Valley had quickly turned into a sunburnt wasteland.” Should it be uncomfortably severed, we would inevitably collapse.” It is the silver cord that binds our present existence. In that same year, The Los Angeles Times wrote: “What Los Angeles is, is mainly due to Cerro Gordo. Local businessmen Victor Beaudry and Mortimer Belshaw caught wind of the riches and began acquiring mining claims in the area.īeaudry and Belshaw eventually took over the entire property in 1869 and turned it into the largest producer of silver and lead in California. But the quantity and quality of silver being harvested from these hills wasn’t kept secret for long. | Photo: Amanda Bungartz What Los Angeles is, is due to Cerro GordoĬerro Gordo got its start back in 1865 when a man named Pablo Flores started mining silver from the large hills that overlooked the Owens Valley in California (Cerro Gordo means “fat hill” in Spanish). This street sign marks the beginning of the journey. There it is in all its rusted glory: the hidden ghost town of Cerro Gordo. But as Helen Keller once famously said, “Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing at all.” So, after eight miles of pinched roads and a mile of elevation gain, I finally round the last turn and my real adventure opens up before me. At times, I feel like the car is mere centimeters from slipping off the edge and plummeting hundreds of feet down a rocky slope. The drive itself has become an adventure I wasn’t prepared for. The road abruptly angles back and forth, narrowly cutting through columns of rust-colored rock and shifting sand, masking anything more than 20 feet ahead. As I make my way up the hill, I don’t see a single hint of the town that awaits. Turning off the smooth pavement of Highway 136 and onto the sun-baked gravel road, the only inclination that I’m on the right track is a small, forgettable street sign marking Cerro Gordo Road.

Hidden ghost town on ghost adventures