Ghost Town

2012.01.10

This sign describes the town of Rush, Arkansas, an active mining community of 5,000 residents in 1900. With the decline in demand for zinc ore, the miners left, leaving abandoned mines, and a few buildings that still stand.

This is one of the hastily constructed buildings that still stands.

The homes were modest, but the hardwood structures remain today.

The cracks between the boards on the side of the houses were covered with newspaper, wallpaper, and sometimes, Gold Medal flour cardboard boxes that were flattened.

This is one of several stone walls that remain in the area.

Stairs to the past. . .

This building burned, and only the stone foundation remains. Charred beams remain on the back wall of the foundation.

In 1880, zinc was discovered in the mountains along Rush Creek, where it feeds into the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas. Over the next 35 years, a boom town called Rush, grew out of the zinc mines in the hillsides, and as many as 5,000 people lived in the area. After WWI, the demand for zinc diminished greatly, and the mining industry in Rush died. These deteriorating buildings, stone foundations, and stone walls are all that remain of the vibrant mining community.