Just a short drive away from the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas Strip, at the northeast end of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, lies a ghost town that had lain submerged beneath the waters of the reservoir for decades.
When Lake Mead is at full pool, this Nevada ghost town sits 60 feet below the surface. But, the recent drought in the southwest has left St. Thomas high and dry since 2002.
The Nevada Ghost Town’s History
St. Thomas was founded in 1865 by Mormon pioneers who mistakenly thought they were still in Utah. When Nevada hit them with a bill for back taxes, all but one family (the Bonelli’s) packed up, burned their homes, and headed back to Salt Lake City.
But the land around St. Thomas was fertile, and there was plenty of salt to be mined, so new settlers soon arrived. The town eventually reached a peak population of around 500. Most houses had cisterns to store water, and while there weren’t any modern amenities like indoor plumbing or electricity, there was a school, post office, grocery stores, a church, an ice cream parlor, and even garages to service the newfangled automobiles that rolled through on Highway 91.
Then, in 1928, President Coolidge signed off on building Hoover Dam. By 1935, Lake Mead started filling up, and by 1938, the water had reached St. Thomas. Legend has it that the last resident, Hugh Lord, woke up one morning to find water lapping at his bed and paddled away in a boat.
The National Park Service has a ton of information about the town and its residents on the Lake Mead website – nps.gov/lake/learn/nature/st-thomas-nevada.htm
Plan Your Nevada Ghost Town Trip and Book A Sprinter Van Reservation
A visit to St. Thomas makes for a spectacular getaway on a vacation in Las Vegas. Rent one of our spacious Sprinter Vans and take the whole family, or your fellow convention goers on a journey they’ll surely never forget. And while you’re all there, you can enjoy a drive through nearby Valley of Fire State Park!
The trailhead is a few miles down a dirt road off the Northshore Road, just inside the east entrance to Lake Mead National Recreation Area, near the turnoff for Valley of Fire State Park. The hike through the ruins is a 2.5-mile loop, and there’s no shade whatsoever. It can be brutally hot in the summer, so this is a hike best undertaken in the cooler months from October through May.
Make sure you bring plenty of water if you decide to check out St. Thomas this summer. It’s a truly interesting place, filled with echoes of the past. It’s a spot frozen in time by the waters of Lake Mead, and you can really feel the history there. PLan your trip and book your Sprinter Van reservation now, because who knows when (or if) the rains will return and submerge this Nevada ghost town once again.