Ruby is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in Okanogan County, Washington, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 was discovered in 1886 on the slopes of Ruby Mountain and Peacock hill. By 1887 a mining district was created and a camp grew up beside Salmon Creek. This camp was called Ruby, or Ruby City. Ruby had a population of 700. By 1888, 70 buildings were located along the main street. In 1889, Ruby was declared the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

. A publication called the Ruby Miner advertised the mineral richness of the area. When the Panic of 1893

Panic of 1893

The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...

caused silver prices to plummet, Ruby slowly was abandoned. Today Ruby is a ghost town.