St. Thomas: The Resurrected Ghost Town

(Image credit: Lake Mead NRA Public Affairs)

The small Nevada town of St. Thomas grew and lost it population twice, and is now uninhabited, although it will not stay buried. The Mormons who founded St. Thomas in18t65 weren't sure whether it was in Utah or Arizona, but when the lines were formally drawn, it was determined to be in Nevada. That's when everyone but one couple left because they didn't want to pay Nevada taxes.Eventually, St. Thomas drew new residents. That is, until construction began on the Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) in the 1930s, which placed St. Thomas underneath the new Lake Mead.

(Image credit: Andrew Cattoir (Lake Mead National Recreation Area)) 

Lake Mead is subject to periodic droughts, and St. Thomas rose from the water off and on over the decades, exposing the stone foundations of the ice cream parlor and the school, plus cement porches and stairs from what were once houses. The erstwhile town remained underwater from 1972 to 2002. But since then, the ghostly remains of St. Thomas have been exposed, and are now a tourist draw. Read about the ghost town that keeps emerging at Mental Floss.