The ghost towns run the gamut, from ones that declined with its local industry (Godley, Ill.), burgs that never amounted to much (Plano, Mo.), to towns that withered when bypassed by the interstate (Yucca, Ariz.). Chapters of each of Route 66’s eight states are sprinkled with snippets, such as driving directions and “Don’t Miss” opportunities. The book’s format goes from east to west, exploring each of the ghost towns. Between the photography and the pleasing design, the pages of “Ghost Towns of Route 66” look indisputably handsome. The book’s images are augmented by images from the author (an able photographer) and Joe Sonderman’s huge Route 66 postcard collection. Several photos are bathed in sepia tones for an old-time look. James previously has proved his photography mettle with “Ghost Towns of the Southwest,” “Route 66 Backroads,” and “Backroads of Arizona.” He does it again by capturing desolate and decaying structures that nonetheless look beautiful amid the orange light of a setting sun, puffy clouds, or enveloping trees. And a few of the towns could be described not as has-beens, but never-weres. It covers two dozen communities that ebbed away, mainly due to industrial decline or interstate bypass.

Route 66 ghost towns can also be found amid Midwestern cornfields and Missouri’s lush Ozark Mountains.Īnd though Route 66 mostly tells its story through well-preserved structures and amiable people, dead and dying towns remain an important part of its history.Īuthor Jim Hinckley and photographer Kerrick James cover this oft-overlooked chapter with “Ghost Towns of Route 66” (160 pages, Voyageur Press, e-book available). 66, ghost towns are a 20th-century phenomenon that doesn’t confine itself to the desert Southwest. The term “ghost town” conjures images of abandoned, dusty, and tumbleweed-strewn buildings in a once-bustling Wild West town founded in the 1800s. Ghost town - a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource.

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