An entrepreneur has documented the progress he has made in rebuilding a California ghost town that he purchased to develop into a tourist attraction.
Cerro Gordo—meaning fat hill in Spanish—was a mining town that began operations after a man named Pablo Flores discovered silver at the site in 1865. By the next decade, it had become one of Los Angeles’ largest suppliers of silver and lead.
The abandoned town was purchased for $1.4 million by an investment group led by hospitality entrepreneur Brent Underwood and his friend, PR firm founder Jon Bier, the LA Times reported in 2018.
Brent Underwood has made significant progress in the construction of a hotel aimed at attracting tourists to Cerro Gordo, the abandoned town he purchased for $1.4 million
Image credits: Ghost Town Living
Brent Underwood has been sharing his journey toward “breathing life back into the town” on his YouTube channel.
“My goal one day is to allow more people to come and stay overnight,” the entrepreneur’s bio reads.
“Restoring an abandoned ghost town with no running water is a long process with many ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
In 2018, hundreds of buyers expressed interest in purchasing the town on the western slope of the Inyo Mountains, with development pitches ranging from a theme park to a care facility to farmland, according to listing agent Jake Rasmuson.
“The buyers’ vision was to keep the property open to the public, which the owners appreciated,” shared Rasmuson.
The owners reportedly turned down offers of $2 million in favor of Brent and Jon’s plan to attract tourists to the old mining town.
The hospitality entrepreneur and his friend, PR firm founder Jon Bier, bought the old mining town in June 2018
Since moving to Cerro Gordo four and a half years ago, Brent has been rebuilding the historic American Hotel, a two-story building that once served as a central meeting point in the 19th-century town.
A self-described history buff, Brent read four books about the town before making his million-dollar investment.
Though the hotel’s roof is complete, its windows and insulation still need to be installed before it can accommodate curious visitors hoping to spend the night there.
Then, there’s the issue of water. “The biggest challenge of living in Cerro Gordo is water or the lack thereof,” Brent told his 1.75 million subscribers in his most recent video.
A temporary source of water is provided by a military truck capable of transporting 1,000 gallons (3,785 liters) at a time.
Additionally, his team has managed to pump water from mines located 700 feet (213 meters) below ground.
But to make his plans for a tourist attraction feasible, more infrastructure and investment are needed, Brent said.
“For the hotel and the longevity of the town, we need a more permanent water source, and that would probably be a well.
“The big issue with the well is that…we have to drill at least 1,000 feet down and that is very expensive.”
He has also built a pond in the middle of Cerro Gordo as an additional water source, which has attracted local fauna.
Cerro Gordo thrived during the 1870s, when it became one of Los Angeles’ largest suppliers of silver and lead
At the time of Brent’s investment, the former settlement had only 22 structures, including the American Hotel, a saloon, a museum, a chapel, a few single-family homes, and an eight-bed bunkhouse.
The town, which thrived at the height of the mining era in the 1870s, was largely abandoned by the 1950s due to falling silver and lead prices, as well as a fire that ravaged the mines.
During its peak, Cerro Gordo had a population of around 4,700 residents.
The entrepreneur’s goal is to “maintain the historic nature of the property while introducing amenities that will allow more people to enjoy the location.”
“Over the past four years, we’ve had fires, floods, earthquakes, record heat. Through all of that, there’s no denying that this town feels alive again,” Brent said
Though much of Cerro Gordo’s history is lost, Brent has already uncovered some treasures from the past. On his Instagram account, he shared the contents of a briefcase he found in 2020 while cleaning out the old general store.
Among the documents he discovered were bank statements, checks for $20, mining claims, lawsuits over unpaid accounts, contracts to sell ore, contracts to buy land, and even a Supreme Court divorce that cited “extreme cruelty.”
The briefcase itself was wrapped in a paper advertising bourbon for $0.69 a bottle.
Brent moved to Cerro Gordo four and a half years ago to restore its historic American Hotel and secure a permanent water source for his tourism project
Last July, the author of Ghost Town Living organized an 8-mile (12-kilometer) footrace in the area that drew 250 participants. This was the second race held in Cerro Gordo.
“There’s so much growth needed that there’s no shot of me being normal again, especially because I have no plans of leaving,” said Brent. “My job here is far from done.”
“Over the past four years, we’ve had fires, floods, earthquakes, record heat. Through all of that, there’s no denying that this town feels alive again.”
People expressed enthusiasm for Brent’s investment in the Old West ghost town
