![Is Vulture City & Mine Haunted?](https://hauntedus.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/hus_vulture-mine_arizona_L10_1698717412484-1024x681.jpg)
Vulture City & Mine
Vulture City, once Arizona’s most productive gold mine, may still be home to spectral prospectors
Ghost Stories of
Vulture City
- Shadow figures have been seen around the ‘hanging tree’
- Disembodied voices have been heard throughout the town
- Phantom music has been heard around the town at night
- Apparitions of townsfolk and Native Americans have been seen
- Eerie feelings have been reported in certain areas
- Cold spots have been encountered, even in the heat of summer
- Visiting ghost hunters have captured potential EVPs around the town
The Golden History of Vulture City
Northwest of Phoenix, Arizona, near the town of Wickenburg, are the rusted remnants of a place time almost forgot. Vulture City, Arizona, was the true definition of a Wild West boomtown.
Mining operations brought the town to life instantly, and it faded away just as fast. But the town itself still remains through renewed buildings and the rusted relics of the old mine.
Tourists can visit what’s left of Vulture City as part of a ghost town tour. But some say the term ‘ghost’ is meant literally.
From claims of shadowy figures to odd sounds, it seems Vulture City’s Wild West residents may have made the old town their afterlife forever home.
Timeline of Vulture City & Mine's History
Swipe or use timeline points to see Vulture City & Mine through the years
Vulture City’s Haunted Hanging Tree
The most famous hauntings in Vulture City center around the town’s supposed ‘hanging tree.’ Since, even in its boomtown heyday, Vulture City never had much formal law enforcement. This left many crimes to be tried by vigilantism. Now, popular tales suggest this one tree was used in 18 hangings between the 1860s and 1900.
No formal records exist of any of these claimed executions. However, many visitors now report eerie feelings around the tree. There are even said to be shadowy apparitions lingering around it.
The town’s hanging tree isn’t the only place people have reported seeing strange figures. Apparitions are known to be spotted throughout the town.
Miners and even Native American figures have been seen by tourists and workers over the years. At least one Native American apparition is notable for appearing without a head on his body.
![Furniture and daily objects remained behind as the miners abandoned the town, some of those items still rest in the town](https://hauntedus.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/hus_vulture-mine_arizona_L10_1698717166868-1024x681.jpg)
Physical Phantoms of Vulture City
The ghosts of Vulture City have also been known to move things around and play with physical objects. Even some bigger objects such as bricks, have been said to be moved and thrown in some buildings.
But, the ghost town’s spirits haven’t been known to throw anything at anyone. They seem mostly focused on making themselves known. Visitors and ghost hunters also report sounds of old pianos in town being played by unseen hands.
![Ghosts in the old mine are said to produce disembodied voice and footsteps just outside of the light](https://hauntedus.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/hus_vulture-mine_arizona_L10_1698717146257-1024x677.jpg)
Cold Spots In The Desert
Other activity around town has become apparent as old, off-limits spaces have been reopened to the public. In the Assay Office, previously inaccessible, visitors now report strange feelings. In one particular area of the office, visitors often say they feel unwelcome, or otherwise note that a negative energy lingers.
Unexplained cold spots have also been encountered in some of the newly reopened spaces. These are said to appear even in the heat of summer, when temperatures in the town can often top 100 degrees.
Ghosts of The Glory Hole
Modern refurbishments have brought new ghost stories out about Vulture City. However, other recent developments have shut some paranormal hotspots away. Much of the Vulture Mine itself is now part of new mining operations and thus off-limits. This area was where shadow figures and echoing voices and screams were often reported.
Additionally, a hotspot known as The Glory Hole is now also separated from tourists. The Glory Hole is the site of a cave-in where illegal prospectors dug into the empty mine in search of excess gold.
Ever since the cave-in, The Glory Hole has supposedly been home to apparitions of the killed prospectors’. Strong feelings of being watched have also been reported.
Vulture City: A Gold Mine of Hauntings
The tale of Vulture City is certainly an unexpected one. It is unlikely anyone in town in the early 1900s would have ever figured it would still be alive, much less thriving, in the 2020s. But while townsfolk have been gone for generations, new throngs of tourists pass through the town each and every year.
And the modern Vulture City Ghost Town offers visitors a wide variety of tours and programs. You can take a traditional walking tour to take in the arrested decay, or you can get a little spooky with a ghost tour. And if even that’s not enough, you can even book your wedding at Vulture City.
The paranormal has played a major role in the resurgence of Vulture City. Early 2010s features on Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures and Ghost Brothers helped charge up interest in the sandy, rusty ghost town. And interest from ghost hunters remains palpable in Vulture City still today.
Along with walking ghost tours, Vulture City also offers overnight lockdowns for the dedicated ghost hunters out there. So while the old ghost town came to life thanks to nearby gold, it seems the new Vulture City has struck gold with something else: ghost stories.