The Beginning of a Ghost Town

On this date back in 1980, the thriving ghost town of Monte Cristo became a regular dead ghost town, as a winter rain storm washed out the approaches to the twin bridges over the Sauk River and caused considerable other damage to the road between Barlow Pass and the townsite. This storm affectively closed the road to Monte Cristo forever and ended any hopes of revitalizing the town as tourist destination. This wasn't the first time floods had ruined the future of the town, but in the past somebody always had the money to rebuild the access, this time however Snohomish County decided to cut their loses and close the road at Barlow Pass. To this day it remains gated, however it has created a nice 4 mile walk back to the townsite and its few remaining builings. Tonight's photo is Monte Cristo looking down Dumas Street. The photo was taken in July, 2000.