Ghost Town of Kolmanskop, Namibia

The history of Kolmanskop began in 1908 when a railway worker, sweeping dirt and debris from the tracks, found unusual stones. He had unwittingly stumbled upon one of the richest diamond deposits in the world. The town that became Kolmanskop grew at a frenetic pace.

But as quickly as Kolmanskop’s diamond boom began, it ended. By World War I, the area’s diamond deposits were depleted and the desert began to reclaim Kolmanskop.