Matheson is another example of how towns on the Eastern plains of Colorado are slowly fading away. Matheson, Colorado is not technically a ghost town, as it still has a small population of about 79 people. However, it is a nearly abandoned community that is slowly being swallowed up by the surrounding plains. The town was founded in 1879 by John Matheson, a Scottish immigrant who homesteaded the land. The town quickly grew as a farming and ranching community, and by the early 1900s, it had a population of over 500 people. However, the town began to decline in the 1920s as people moved to larger towns and cities in search of better opportunities. Today, Matheson is a quiet and peaceful place, if not a little on the spooky side. There are a few old buildings still standing, including a schoolhouse, a church, and a few houses. However, most of the town is abandoned, and the fields are overgrown with weeds.
You may have noticed that I convert many of my ghost town photos to black & white, but in this case, I liked the yellow “brown eyed Susan” sunflowers in the overgrown field around these silos. The day I made this photograph, it was balmy and warm with rain clouds in the area. The town had a very spooky feel to it. There was no sign of people anywhere, but there were some houses that appeared to be occupied. A very Twilight Zone feel about it.
