Starting over in Ghost Town: they found perfect village to escape 9-to-5

Shaniko, Oregon — once the “Wool Capital of the World” — went bust more than a century ago and with its hotels shuttered, storefronts abandoned, and population dwindled to just a few dozen, it nearly disappeared, but today although only 33 residents remain, the town is slowly staging a comeback. At the center of Shaniko’s revival are Pam Brown and her husband, Mark Haskett, who arrived from San Francisco seven years ago in search of something quieter and never left. They reopened the old gas station and converted a chapel into a music venue, stitching together new uses for buildings that had long stood idle. Together, they’ve become more than business owners. Mark now serves as Shaniko’s fire chief, while Pam works as an EMT, roles that are essential in a county with little official support. To stay, they’ve had to improvise. Building codes in the area are restrictive, so the couple constructed tiny houses on skids beside the gas station, a workaround that gave them a place to live while they invested in the town. At the same time, they are restoring a long-neglected homestead on the edge of town. The property includes a historic 1897 house and an old chapel, structures that hint at the town’s more prosperous past and could one day become a permanent home. Their efforts are part of a broader attempt to make Shaniko livable again. The historic Shaniko Hotel has reopened its doors, drawing travelers back to Main Street, while locals work to keep alive the stories of the town’s wool-boom days. Slowly, the place that once seemed destined for abandonment is finding new purpose. In Shaniko, rebuilding is as much about community as it is about architecture. Fire protection, medical response, and even basic repairs fall to neighbors rather than officials. To live here is to accept both the risks and the rewards: the isolation, the sweeping sunsets, and the knowledge that survival depends on one another. What is taking shape in Shaniko is not just preservation of the past, but the fragile beginnings of a new kind of rural resilience. Shaniko Bluegrass festival https://tyghvalleybluegrass.com/ Chapel fundraising https://bit.ly/ShanikoChapel Photo credits: Shaniko Preservation Guild