Among the most mysterious cases about missing cities and towns, we find that of Urkhammer. This rural town in the state of Iowa, United States, seemed the typical city in the middle of the American West that the films illustrate. However, in 1928 something strange happened as the town was left empty. Aerial photographs of the area revealed completely deserted streets. The same situation on local farms, where the grass took over crops and nobody seemed to care.
A Traveller Visits Urkhammer
The mystery became greater after the story of a traveller who passed through there. En route to another city, he found it convenient to go to Urkhammer to refuel. Upon reaching the gas station, he found the site completely abandoned and the pumps empty. Not only the gas station was abandoned, but also the office and the convenience store that made up the complex.
Fearing that something bad could have happened, the man decided to go to the city that was located just over 2 kilometres from the gas station. It is in this part of the story where the supernatural begins. Various roadside signs and signs indicated that it was close, but the traveller could not get there no matter how far ahead. No matter how much he sped up looking for the city and despite the signs that indicated he must be in that place, he never managed to reach Urkhammer.
It was as if the city just disappeared. He drove about four miles, until he came back before running out of fuel. As he returned to rejoin the highway, an overwhelming feeling of desolation invaded the traveller. All the way he had this strange feeling that something very bad had happened in Urkhammer. Others also reported the same strange sensation when touring the area.
What Happened To The Inhabitants?
Other people claim to have reached Urkhammer, but only to find deserted streets, abandoned houses and not a single sign of its inhabitants. According to the last census of the town, carried out in 1920, Urkhammer had a population of 300 inhabitants. And their fate is a complete mystery to this day.
At that time, a local newspaper published various articles stating that the inhabitants disappeared after moving to an unknown place. However, the Great Depression quickly made headlines and the Urkhammer investigation went into the background. In fact, in the midst of the economic crisis, it seemed that nobody cared about the fate of those people.
A police officer from Oakmeadow, one of the neighbouring towns, went to visit a relative living in Urkhammer. This man attested to the total neglect and neglect of the city. He came to enter the house of his relative, and although he found various personal objects, he did not find any sign of life. The sheriff’s office was also abandoned, with no trace of the fate of the villagers.
គម្របធូលី
Four years after the mysterious disappearance of the city, Urkhammer suffered the consequences of the sand storms that hit the region at the time. The phenomena, popularly known as the Dust Bowl, partially buried the town. What a few years before was a city brimming with life, was reduced to abandoned fields covered in dust and structures rotting in the rays of the Sun.
A tall iron post that marked the place where the animals were fed was the only sign of human presence in the area. And it is that Urkhammer no longer existed.
Unsolved Mystery
Several decades later, a caravan of gypsies arrived at the site where Urkhammer once stood. The head of the Roma group confessed that it was impossible for him to stay longer in that place. He argued that the area was full of tears and suffering from those who disappeared and were never found.
In 1990, the real estate groups decided to build in the area. However, when the contractors located the ruins of a small town under the dust dunes the project was cancelled. To this day, it is impossible to know what happened to the residents of Urkhammer, and it is one of the many mysteries that the state of Iowa holds.
សន្និដ្ឋាន
It’s unknown when Urkhammer was established. Toady, what we know about Urkhammer is, it was a standard small town that remains one of many towns that ‘vanished’, some with more credence than others. Does that mean the story of Urkhammer is just that, a story and nothing more? Perhaps.
But, then again, stranger things have happened. People throughout history have just vanished, sometimes entire civilizations with little trace left behind. Now there remains a distinct, if slim, chance that Urkhammer was real and somewhere out there, a little clue to prove such. And perhaps the strange goings-on inside this strange little town.
