
Eerie images have emerged of a Nevada ghost town that saw at least one gold rush and features a plane which crashed during the making of a Kevin Costner movie.

In 1775 Spanish gold prospectors arrived in the canyon, in the far south of Nevada, and inevitably named it El Dorado.

But it was not until 1861 that miners struck sizeable deposits of gold and silver.

The area around what used to be Nelson, Nevada, is strewn with the wrecks of cars, most of them from the 1930s

The Techatticup mine was surrounded by a notoriously lawless mining camp, which was a magnet for deserters from both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War and all manner of other rogues seeking their fortune.

The settlement which grew up around the mine was called Nelson, after Charles Nelson, a miners' leader who was murdered by a Native American tribe.

The mine closed in 1942 and Nelson began to die as people drifted away to the growing cities of Las Vegas and Reno.

An abandoned gas station is seen next to a sign for the town's famous Techatticup mine, which was surrounded by a debauched camp where hookers and hooch were the order of the day

By 2000 it had become a ghost town and was the perfect location for the filming of a movie, starring Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell.

The eventual film, 3000 Miles to Graceland, was a box office flop which was panned by the critics.

But it gave the ghost town an enduring landmark - a crashed airplane which was abandoned by the roadside after it came down during filming.

In 2000 the area was chosen as the location for the filming of 3000 Miles to Graceland, a movie starring Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell and Courteney Cox. During the filming this plane crashed into the ground and was later abandoned

The film was panned by the critics. It cost $62million to make and made only $15million at the box office. The plane wreck is almost a metaphor for the film, which had a convoluted plot involving Elvis impersonators and a casino robbery

This black and white image conjures up the past - in the 19th century the Eldorado Canyon saw a gold rush

This old school bus was converted into a home many years ago. In 2010 the town of Nelson had a population of 37

The scorching Nevada sun beats down on this old Dodge bus, which once ferried the town's children to and from school

Most of the vehicles in the ghost town have rusted away. It is questionable whether they could be driven

The photographer who took these pictures said: 'There are a few people that still live here and the residents offer tours of a nearby abandoned mine and mainly run a general store'

The anonymous photographer said: 'I've always been fascinated by forgotten and abandoned places so I wanted to capture the places I went to for others to see'

Nelson was named after a miners' leader, Charles Nelson, who was slain by a local Native American chief called Avote

At one of the canyon is Nelson's Landing, on Lake Mohave. The wharf area was destroyed during a flash flood in 1974

Nelson is located on Nevada State Route 165, eight miles from the junction with U.S. Route 95. The nearest inhabited town is Boulder City, 25 miles away

Signs and a pump at this gas station are all rusted up. Most of the area's residents moved away 70 years ago

Temperatures in the area frequently hit 90 or 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and even in December hover around 45

People in the area are now far outnumbered by Desert Bighorn Sheep, which are used to the arid conditions

Nevada, Arizona and California have several ghost towns which date back from the 19th century gold rush