Ghost Towns

Image 27 of 580
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The remains of a piece of playground equipment sits in front of Lincoln High School ruins in the ghost town of Metropolis, Nevada. Metropolis was located northeast of Wells, Nevada, and was a planned town intended o be the center of a large farming district. Started when the Pacific Reclamation Company of New York bought 40,000 acres of land at the headwaters of the Humboldt River the anticipated population was 7,500. By 1911 a railroad spur, 3 story hotel, and high school were built. In 1912 the population began to increase and acreage was sold. In 1914 communities downstream from Metropolis filed suit over water rights against the dam that had been built across Bishop Creek leaving only enough water to irrigate 4,000 acres. By 1920 less than 100 residents remained. Lincoln High School opened in 1914 and taught its last class in 1947. The hotel burned down in 1936.