Atomic City, ID

At one time, the glorious road to the nuclear future bisected Atomic City, Idaho. But today, all this place has going for it is a funny name. About 25 people live in a flat, isolated ghost town-to-be, and the main road in is unpaved. The gas station is also the post office and bar. The weedy and faded Atomic City Raceway may be ironic or just abandoned.

Sitting at the edge of the sprawling 890-square-mile Idaho National Laboratory complex, this modern-day ghost town has a shocking nuclear history that drove residents away in the 1950s and continues to keep visitors at a distance. Here, in 1961, the country’s first fatal nuclear explosion took place – not even a decade after a dangerous reactor meltdown nearby left the town paralyzed with fear. Today, while not fully abandoned, Atomic City stands desolate and scarred by the radioactive fatalities of the past with only a handful of residents remaining as a living legacy of the tragic events.