Metropolis School

Metropolis is another unusual Nevada ghost town. It was an early 20th-century attempt to grow wheat in the sagebrush lands near Wells, in the northeastern part of the state. The town had largely dried up by the mid 1930s due to low agricultural prices and conflicts over water rights. In particular, a lawsuit from downstream water users in the Humboldt River drainage blocked using irrigation water from a local creek.

Pretty much all that now remains is the ruin of the school (seen here) and the hotel (see left insets), with otherwise little evidence of settlement other than some broken artifacts (right inset). The gray-green shrub is sagebrush (Artemisia spp., probably A. tridentata). It has come back in a big way!

Before Metropolis's final demise, the settlers had instead tried to grow dry-land wheat, with no success. With the recent run-up in grain prices, though, it makes you wonder if the idea is worth another look, particularly with modern drought-tolerant strains...