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Restored theater space
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close down, so the library becomes the 'social center' for the locals.
Many locals come to the library just to drink coffee, hang out,
and talk." Jack Albrecht, Director of the library, puts it succinctly.
During the winter, the library "tries to be the living room of the
community."
Evalyn Johnson, archivist with the library for 16 years, remem-
bers when "the historic buildings that lined the streets had outlived
the uses of the past generation and were now slowly left to decay
into the landscape."
ankfully, the state park service and concerned citizens made
efforts to save these towns. Evalyn says, we can still enjoy "the
beauty and resonance of the buildings, which help to bring up the
past — the rush for riches, the dance hall stories, the gentleman's
literary society, the road agents, the vigilantes, the social function,
the theater… at's why people come: to associate themselves with
the stories and half-truths of the people who lived in those days
when it was hard just to stay alive."
What I learned from Evalyn and the not-so-spectral children in
Elkhorn was this: at ghost towns where history is so much present,
it feels as if we, the living, are haunting the past.
CONTINUED
