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Ironmtw
location:
Aurora, CO
Gender: Male
DOH!!!
 |  | CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
< on 5/26/2009 3:44 AM >
|  | | | Hello everybody
I just spent a very nice, cloudy day driving aimlessly around the eastern plains of Colorado. I hit two of the more well known ghost towns and found them to be NOT so ghostly. The town of "Willard" was pretty cool but it seemed like there were quite a few occupied homes. The town of "Keota" has one occupied trailer and some sort of highway department depot of some kind. Each of the towns has some places to explore and are worth visiting if you're nearby. I also pulled up to the gate of an active nuclear missile site but didn't hang around too long due to the sign that stated "use of deadly force is authorized." Sorry, but I'm not good enough to be able to identify what type of missile is housed there just by looking at the surface structures. Here are a few of the hilights from the trip. How about that sweet TV!!!
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Retro_Chick
     
location:
Denver-ish
Gender: Female
Serial Trespasser
| | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 1 on 5/27/2009 6:43 AM >
| | | | Very nice!  I like the framing on photo #7.
"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."
~Ayn Rand |
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EatsTooMuchJam
 
location:
Minneapolis, MN
Gender: Male
Squirty "Stickybuns" von Cherrypants
| |  |  |  |  | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 2 on 5/27/2009 5:56 PM >
| | | | I've been to Keota. There's more there than just a state building and a trailer - there are also some cool rock walls still standing! Or at least, there were a few years ago.
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
-Tom Waits |
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kc
Noble Donor
location:
Pueblo, Colorado
Gender: Male
"yah, im hangin the drywall at the new Mc. Donalds"
| | | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 3 on 5/28/2009 3:18 PM >
| | | | I never thought about active silos...guess my mind was single track on abandoned.
Is there a list of these locations somewhere, I cant imagine they are all perfectly hidden...
Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job
WRONG fourteen times gives you job security. |
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Ironmtw
location:
Aurora, CO
Gender: Male
DOH!!!
| | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 4 on 5/29/2009 4:20 AM >
| | | | Thanks "retro chick" I shot about 50 photos and #7 is probably my favorite on the day...
Hey "Eatstoomuchjam" those rock walls are still there all right, just sitting in a field all alone. There are several other great buildings in the town but they are extensively labeled "no trespassing" and what not. Since it was broad daylight and there were occupied structures nearby I figured best to leave them alone.
"KC" I've never tried to find active missile sites, this one is just sitting 50 feet off the road on the way to Keota so I figured I'd walk up to the fence and take a look. There was a camera looking right at me so I figure if I grabbed a hold of that fence I probably would have been looking down the business end of an MP-5 pretty quick. Somewhere right under my feet there were a couple Air Force guys looking at a monitor and saying "come on jack ass, do it, just start climbing..."
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imprezawrxsti
location:
Portland, OR
Gender: Male
nothing is true; everything is permitted
| | | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 5 on 5/29/2009 5:40 PM >
| | | | 
the silo near Keota is a Minuteman site, meaning that the guy wouldn't have been sitting under you, but in a field miles away. all that's behind that fence is a missile in a hole.
that's why the Titans are the way they are; the Air Force hadn't figured out that it wasn't such a great idea to put three missiles and crew in one place, because it would only take one well-timed Soviet nuke to take out a facility. remember, the Titan Is took fifteen minutes to launch each missile, and they could only fuel and fire one at a time.
on topic, though, there's some cool near-ghosts up there. i've been to Wiggins and Padroni, you wouldn't know people lived there by how dead it was.
do you know how to waltz? |
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Ironmtw
location:
Aurora, CO
Gender: Male
DOH!!!
| | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 6 on 5/31/2009 4:09 AM >
| | | | Imprez
Thanks for identifying my missile for me. I looked it up and it looks like the Minuteman-III is the only land based ICBM still in the U.S. inventory. We have 450 of those bad boys dug into the ground with 45 control centers in charge of lobbing them across the globe. According to your map it looks like they are all out here in our part of the country, that's comforting...
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imprezawrxsti
location:
Portland, OR
Gender: Male
nothing is true; everything is permitted
| | | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 7 on 5/31/2009 6:35 AM >
| | | | Posted by Ironmtw
Imprez
Thanks for identifying my missile for me. I looked it up and it looks like the Minuteman-III is the only land based ICBM still in the U.S. inventory. We have 450 of those bad boys dug into the ground with 45 control centers in charge of lobbing them across the globe. According to your map it looks like they are all out here in our part of the country, that's comforting...
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well, there's a bunch more in other states. those are just the ones under control of FE Warren AFB in wyoming.
do you know how to waltz? |
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kc
Noble Donor
location:
Pueblo, Colorado
Gender: Male
"yah, im hangin the drywall at the new Mc. Donalds"
| | | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 8 on 6/9/2009 2:17 AM >
| | | | I find this very interesting and appreciate the map and info imprez. I wish they were not so important so I could find out more about them ;)
Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job
WRONG fourteen times gives you job security. |
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Quarantine
location:
Denver
Gender: Female
retired former old-school UE'er
| | Re: CO Eastern Plains Ghost Towns
<Reply # 9 on 6/10/2009 1:47 AM >
| | | | Roadtripping around that area is always fun. Highway 14 s probably one of my favourite places in CO. I've been to Keota a few times, had a good chat with one of the last residents (he works the garage on the East side of town) and stopped through Willard once too. Next time you make it out that way I highly recommend stopping by Pawnee Buttes- it's really pretty, especially this time of year when the prairie's still alive and vibrant.
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