September 12, 1998 was the first ever Ghosttowns.com Rally held in Crown King, Arizona. It was a great success and a fun time for everyone.

Ghosttowns.com Rally98 Attendees

	Despite a few transportation problems the day went smoothly and attendees were able to meet each other and start new friendships.      The Rally was supposed to start at 9AM, but a motorhome fire and a Volkswagon rally brought traffic on I-17 to a standstill and delayed most attendees arrival for 30 minutes to an hour. At 10AM, after coffee, muffins and pie, the Rally started with Rich Rayls from Ghosttowns.com talking about the website and some special promotions we had going on at the time.      Next, Todd Underwood from Ghosttowns.com talked about the history of the area and some of the technical side of the website, and then we were off to visit the first site, the Crown King mill, Harrington house, and the old assay office of the Crowned King mine. The pictures to the left and right are at the Crowned King mill site in front of the assay office and the Harrington house.      Next, we caravaned up the hill to the site of the Crowned King mine. Unfortunately, just after the mine we were to see some of the buildings left at the site but the road was blocked with a downed tree and piled rocks and we were forced to turn around on the single lane four-wheel drive road. It was a tough turnaround but we managed. The only bad thing is that we were unable to see the buildings at the Crowned King mine.      We retraced our steps to the Mill restaurant in Crown King for a great lunch and more story swapping. The mill served an excellent meal with the biggest sandwiches you've ever seen!      After lunch the group piled back into the vehicles and we headed down a pretty challenging single lane four-wheel drive road to the ghost town of Oro Belle. We had to get out a few times and build the road back up with rocks so we could make it through. There was a lot of traffic on the single lane road including an abandoned vehicle (flat tire, the white blazer in the picture bottom left) in the middle of the road and another group towing a broken down jeep.      After taking pictures and exploring at Oro Belle, we headed back to the Mill restaurant to say our goodbyes. It was a great day for all and many new friends were made. We look foward to seeing everyone again at the next rally! Below are the pictures of the attendees. You might recognize some of them as many have contributed a lot to this website and are regulars on the bulletin board.