In January of 1848, James Marshall had a work crew camped on the American River at Coloma near Sacramento. The crew was building a saw mill for John Sutter. On the cold, clear morning of January 24, Marshall found a few tiny gold nuggets. Thus began one of the largest human migrations in history as a half-million people from around the world descended upon California in search of instant wealth.

After the gold rush was over, many towns were deserted, and became ghost towns. Ghost Town Gallery offers a collection of 1300 pictures from 174 Ghost Towns and historic places.