Cisco, Utah (Saturday, August 18, 2018)

Cisco is considered a ghost town but has post office boxes. The town started in the 1880s as a saloon and water-refilling station for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. Stores, hotels, and restaurants sprang up to accommodate work crews and travelers. Around the turn of the 20th century, more than 100,000 sheep were sheared in Cisco before being shipped to market. Oil and natural gas were discovered and Cisco continued to grow. Then the bottom fell out. The town's decline coincided with the demise of the steam locomotive. Cisco survived long enough into the 20th century to be assigned a ZIP code, 84515. A declining economy crashed when Interstate 70 was built, bypassing Cisco. 

The town site contains many relics of a typical old west railroad town. Unfortunately for history and railroad buffs, the ghost town's easy access and proximity to the freeway have lured vandals. The relics are heavily damaged and the town is littered with abandoned vehicles.

High-tech satellite dish on the left side of the house and low-tech tire shredder (nails sticking up in boards) to keep tourists out of the driveway.

Whoever lives here rides a bike and likes National Public Radio, which was blasting loudly from one of the buildings behind the post office. Notice the box-springs fence is as high as 55-gallon drums.  For cattle?  Can they not go under a fence that low? Or through the wide open gate?  For decoration? So many questions.