Goldfield Ghost Town is located 4.5 miles N/E of Apache Junction, Arizona on the Historic Apache Trail. The town of Goldfield began as a collection of white canvas tents, used as homes of the gold seekers that rushed west in the late 1800s and they settled in desolate areas and worked long, hard days. The Mammoth Mine, just north of where Goldfield Ghost Town now sits, lured thousands and produced about $1.5 million worth of gold in those days. In today's market that gold would be worth more than $20 million.
The ore was extracted in the original mine at a depth of more than 1,000 feet.
The miners worked 10 to 12 hours a day and got paid $3 per day., The life expectancy of a miner was only 30 to 35 years because of the dust they breathed.
Back in the 1890's Goldfield boasted 3 saloons, a boarding house, general store, blacksmith shop, brewery, meat market and a school house. Just when it looked like the town would outgrow Mesa, the vein faulted, the grade of ore dropped and the town died a slow painful death. After several unsuccessful attempts to reopen the mines, the town did come to life again from 1910 on and off until 1926.
Although the original town burned in a fire, owners Bob and Lou-Ann Schoose rebuilt Goldfield in the 1980s and have scoured the West for authentic mining machinery to make the town as original as possible.
After more than 115 years, travelers from all over the world still visit this gold mining town located on the historic Apache Trail and enjoy the excitement and grandeur of Arizona's wild west.
Today people that have visited the town testify of ghostly forces of nature that still come from under the 1,500 ft mineshaft were a Mystery Shack was built on.
The Mystery Shack - is well known for its rich gold mines and legends of mystery within the Superstition Mountains. Millions of tons of gold ore were mined from this area back in 1893, but one section of this mining town was quickly closed down in 1894 after miners complained of abnormal and haunting events.
In 2009 an old miner’s house was restored and unknowingly moved to this section of dirt within Goldfield Ghost Town. This miner’s house, after more than 100 years, still generates a vortex that defies gravity and has been renamed by local residents The Mystery Shack.
People walk at 45 degree angles, water runs from faucets without being connected to pipes, the ghostly pool-table refuses to let you hit the balls straight and always seem to go into the same pocket, objects hang from the ceiling at 45 degree angles and no matter how hard you push them back, they will always swing back to their ghostly, slanted position.
Sitting in one of the chairs located in the Mystery Shack is easy but trying to get up from it is almost impossible. There is also a ten-pound iron ball that rolls uphill along the walls, and upon exiting the Mystery Shack you will have to pass over the 1,500 ft mineshaft that creates the gravity defying anomalies.
