Tucked away near the southern coast of California, there’s a post-apolocyptic beach town that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
If you were asked to picture a ghost town, you might visualize a dusty, desert village that looks like something out of an old Western film. Perhaps you might even imagine a hidden Appalachian community, overgrown and abandoned. You probably wouldn’t picture anything like Bombay Beach, California. With coastal land always at a premium, it’s hard to imagine a seaside resort community drying up and fading away. However, an unfortunate natural calamity turned this retro beach town into a sunburnt husk by the sea. Read on to learn more about Bombay Beach, and then be sure to watch the fascinating exploration of this ghost town by YouTube channel “Exploring With Josh” below.
The ghost town of Bombay Beach is located on the Salton Sea in California.
Flickr/m01229
Bombay Beach was once a thriving tourist destination during the 1940s and 50s. It was designed to be the West Coast version of the French Riviera.
Youtube/Exploring With Josh
However, rising salinity and pollution levels in the Salton Sea led to mass die-offs in local wildlife, which blanketed the area in a horrible odor.
Flickr/Kent MacElwee
A series of tropical storms in the 1970s further damaged the beach resort community, and the area never recovered.
Flickr/Alejandro C.
The population is under 295, and continues to shrink every year. For such a sprawling town, a population that low means that residents can go days without seeing another person.
Flickr/Marc Cooper
The community has only one market and one diner, and most residents get around on golf carts.
Flickr/Nelson Minar
The town’s market looks particularly surreal, as barely anything is kept in stock.
Youtube/Exploring With Josh
Many of the homes haven’t been touched since the 1960s and 70s.
Youtube/Exploring With Josh
In recent years, the town has been used as a filming location for post-apocalyptic films, and is a popular destination for photographers.
Flickr/Don Barrett
The explorers in the video interview current residents and poke around inside retro and dilapidated buildings.
Youtube/Exploring With Josh
Check out the chilling footage below:
Flickr/m01229
Youtube/Exploring With Josh
Flickr/Kent MacElwee
Flickr/Alejandro C.
Flickr/Marc Cooper
Flickr/Nelson Minar
Flickr/Don Barrett
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