Arizona Humanities presenter Jay Mark will give a presentation about Arizona’s ghost towns.

“In addition to an entertaining, visual display of the communities, towns and settlements that contributed to the early growth of the state, this presentation also focuses on respect for these diminishing historic resources. Most of the photographs represent a comprehensive exploration of Arizona ghost towns made by Mr. Mark in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This occurred just prior to a major period of incursion and destruction by off-road and all-terrain vehicles. Many sites are no longer extant or have been seriously degraded since, over the last fifty of sixty years. This presentation emphasizes the need to respect these valuable, but fragile and vulnerable resources. Most are on public land with little or no protection afforded. From Mr. Mark’s personal library of nearly one thousand photographs of about three dozen ghost towns, the presentation features ghost towns from the area in which it is made.”

Jay Mark has been a resident of Arizona for more 50 years and brings a lifetime of experience and knowledge to his lively, casual and engaging presentations. He is a writer of more than 800 articles about local and Arizona history. Since 1984, he has also taught popular continuing education classes in the Maricopa Community College District and is regularly invited to share his expertise as a guest lecturer at ASU. He is a recipient of the Arizona Historical Society Al Merito award and the SHPO/APF Governor’s Heritage Preservation award.