Was this historic place abandoned? Haunted?! - Road Trip Day 8 Episode 19

[robertpaulsen]

The shopkeeper told us that the St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Austin, Nevada, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was abandoned for now and that we should go take a look. Neek got quite a scare from what she thought might be a ghost, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise!

[ailsagirl]

1. Wow-- interesting!

There are TONS of abandoned places featured on YouTube

From mansions to shopping malls to castles to whole neighborhoods

Weird!!

[robertpaulsen]

2. The whole Urbex phenomenon is pretty fascinating!

Our explorations are pretty minimal - some people get really intense wearing face masks, flashlights, etc. Some of the things you can discover are pretty amazing. We particularly like going to places that have some history attached to them. It's fun!

[ailsagirl]

3. I just don't understand why there are so many abandoned residences

When I was growing up, there were always some abandoned buildings we knew about but they were few and far between.

When entire mansions, in relatively good repair, are left with all the possessions still there-- that's what puzzles me. I suppose every one has its own story but still-- baffling

[robertpaulsen]

4. I've noticed the same thing.

My own take on it is that since the 70s, every recession we have had has been worse than the previous. So that when a Democratic administration does their best to promote recovery, we never quite get back to where we were. Hence, more and more abandoned buildings left behind. It's a vicious cycle and with this latest Republican tax scam, I see it happening once again.

[ailsagirl]

5. I think you're right

Depressing

[robertpaulsen]

6. Depressing state of the nation. Nice to see one building buck the trend.

Here are some pictures we took of the restoration of this historic building:

[ailsagirl]

9. Beautiful!!

Thanks for posting!!

[erronis]

13. Thanks for your explorations!

[robertpaulsen]

15. You're welcome, erronis!

Glad to see that you're enjoying it.

[Brother Buzz]

7. Carry on, Gridley

I like your video, and I'm totally envious of your road trip. All I knew of Austin, Nevada, was what I learned from Twain.

Reuel Colt Gridley (January 23, 1829 – November 24, 1870) was an American storekeeper who gained nationwide attention in 1864, when he repeatedly auctioned a plain sack of flour and raised over $250,000 for the United States Sanitary Commission, which provided aid to wounded American Civil War soldiers.

In 1864, Gridley supported the Democratic candidate for mayor in Austin, Nevada, where he operated a grocery store. He made a bet with a Republican friend that the loser would carry a fifty-pound sack of flour through the town. He performed his punishment with the accompaniment of the town band, and at the end someone offered that the sack should be auctioned off to raise money for the Sanitary Fund, a new organization that aided disabled Civil War veterans. After finally selling for $250, the winning bidder did not take the sack, but donated it back to Gridley to be auctioned off again. It was auctioned repeatedly until over $8,000 was raised. When nearby Virginia City, Nevada heard of the event (and where young newspaper editor Mark Twain was working at the time), they invited Gridley to come there, which he did. He then traveled to California where San Franciscans donated $2800 and Sacramento citizens donated $10000, before heading to St. Louis and the major eastern cities. These bidders added around $170,000 to the Sanitary Commission's fund, and within twelve months Gridley had raised $275,000 with his sack of flour.

Twain told the story of the Gridley flour sack in his 1872 book Roughing It.


The Gridley Store in Austin, Nevada, which was placed on National Register of Historic Places listings in Nevada in 2003
In 1866, Gridley moved to Stockton, California, and was in poor health; he died in 1870. Did you happen to see the store or marker?

[robertpaulsen]

8. I regret to say we missed Gridley's store!

It wasn't until after we visited Austin that we found out there was so much historic stuff that we missed. Then while we were researching more into the brochures we took from there, we found out about Reuel Colt Gridley, Emma Nevada and other colorful people and places within Austin.

https://lexandneek.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/a-living-ghost-town-austin-nevada-road-trip-day-8-ep-18/amp/

I wish we had had more time! Such a cool place - worth returning to in the future.

[Brother Buzz]

10. I know you're only visiting Hwy 50 - Nevada - but listed on my bucket list....

is to do the 'Mother of all road trips', by traveling the entire highway. I guess it's inspired by a sign I passed everyday for years.



I want to see it's sister sign. That, and to eat some oysters

[robertpaulsen]

11. Wow, now THAT'S a bucket list item!

Yeah, our journey was abridged compared that stretch of the 50. My best of luck to you in accomplishing that!

[Brother Buzz]

12. For a couple of months Hwy 50 mysteriously shrank by 36 miles

The old sign was stolen by an unnamed UCD fraternity in 2002. Cal-Trans decided to replace it with a larger sign to discourage it from being hauled away in a pick-up truck, only their dyslexic sign-maker transposed two numbers. They remedied their error by applying a patch.

[erronis]

14. "Blue Highways", and "Annals of the Former World" - 2 of my favorite travelogs for the US

It might be harder to find those Blue Highways (non-major thoroughfares) as they have been subsumed into the major city arteries.

Annals is, for me, the perfect guide that combined geology, philosophy, and wisdom.

I guess that means I should include "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" also.