Shaniko?

So whats the deal with Shaniko you might ask? you probably aren't, but you might be. Well i will tell you.

Shaniko is a faux "Ghost town" look up ghost towns on the Internet and Shaniko will be there, claiming that it is the real deal. Not that you cant find real ghost towns on the Internet, but it is definitely a tourist trap.

Shaniko served as a transportation hub for the railroad and was a sheep herding town in the late 1800's . It was the self proclaimed "wool capitol of the world". By 1911, another rail line diverted traffic once served by the Columbia Southern railroad and the town begin to decline. A mid-1960s flood in Hay canyon near grass valley Oregon destroyed part of the Columbia Southern line and led to its abandonment. It remained the same until sometime in the 1980's the Portland tribune published an article about it proclaiming it an authentic American "ghost town", "a quaint and quiet little town on the prairie". People soon arrived by the masses and took lots of valuable antique artifacts of its sheep herding days with them. The owner of the Portland tribune has invested in the preservation of the town.

The only "ghosts" you will find here are painted on plywood and screwed to to walls. it has a phony bologna main street with obviously staged "artifacts". It's buildings still stand, complete with a warehouse (pictured) a two story hotel and a schoolhouse along with other buildings.

For the weekend warrior this "ghost town" may be choice, but we jewel hunters turn our noses up to such a terrible example of a ghost town. It does however have some interesting things to take pictures of.