Ghost town disappears as California lake fills for first time in years
A Wild West ghost town has submerged back into the deep as California’s once-dry Lake Isabella fills up for the first time in years. Until recently, the lake in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills in Central California was emblematic of California’s drought. In September, it was at 8% capacity, revealing the town of Whiskey Flat. Whiskey Flat was founded in the 1860s as the Gold Rush was tapering off. A nearby mine — Whiskey Flat is about 35 miles from Bakersfield — was in operation until the 1940s and yielded millions in gold. A new type of California gold rush came to town next: Hollywood. The town was so perfect as an idealized Wild West town that TV shows and even legendary director John Ford used it as a set. But in 1953, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to dam the Kern River and create a reservoir. That reservoir became Lake Isabella, and it flooded the remnants of Whiskey Flat.
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