Sunday Drive - The Ghost Town of St. Thomas, Nevada

In the 1930s as water from the Colorado River began to pool up behind the recently completed Hoover Dam, residents of the small town of St. Thomas, Nevada began to abandon their homes and businesses. As the water levels rose and Lake Mead began to fill, the town was flooded and eventually lay under about 80 feet of water when the lake reached full pool.

But as a result of the lower levels of water in Lake Mead, the ghost town of St. Thomas has emerged from beneath the waters and the cooler months of the year offer the best times to visit this amazing piece of history. And for that reason, we’re featuring it as our Sunday Drive this week.

St. Thomas was settled by Mormon Pioneers in 1865. The town was built on relatively fertile land at the confluence of the Virgin and Muddy Rivers, 22 miles north of the Colorado River.

Unfortunately, the pioneer settlers believed they were still in Utah when they established their new town. A few years later, it was discovered they were residents of Nevada. After the discovery, Nevada authorities demanded five years' worth of back taxes from the settlers. Unwilling to pay, most of the original settlers left St. Thomas and headed back to Utah.

The town continued to flourish, however. A few years after their initial exodus, many of the Mormon settlers returned. Fields and orchards growing peaches, almonds, barley and wheat were planted, and eventually, a railroad spur connecting the town to Salt Lake City and Los Angeles even reached the town.

But all that came to a screeching halt with the construction of the Hoover Dam and the filling of Lake Mead.

But as the levels of Lake Mead have dropped in recent years the town has reemerged from the depths. Today, you can walk amongst the ruins and the National Park Service has even installed interpretive signs to provide details of what life was like in St. Thomas.

It does take a bit of a hike to get down to the old townsite from the parking area. And during the summer months, the heat of southern Nevada can make the journey exponentially more difficult. But this time of year, it’s a very pleasant hike with a ghost town at the end of the journey.

To get there, head south on I-15 to the Moapa Valley exit, Exit 93 in Nevada. Travel south to the entrance station for the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. Just past the entrance station, there’s a dirt road on your left, the Old St. Thomas Road. You’ll travel a little over three miles east on what is a pretty well-maintained and graded dirt road to reach the trailhead. For more information visit https://nps.gov/lake/learn/nature/st-thomas-nevada.htm