CNN iReport

Tucked away in a forgotten corner of some of the oldest land in Second Life slumbers a dead wild west town.

The town has no name. No one lives there. No one passes through. No train or pony express ever stops off. The merciless sun beats down and the driving winds scour the wooden facades of the general store and livery stables. The iron doors of the small jail have long since rusted on their hinges and the once optimistic notices in the land office now crumble at the slightest breeze.

But by far and away the saddest and strangest sight of all is the saloon.

Time and neglect have stripped it bare. The walls and roof have gone. The floors and doors and widows have vanished. Tables stand on nothing, stairs climb to nowhere and a clock and pendulum eerily count away the seconds in mid-air with no body or mechanism in sight.

What has happened here? What terrible occurrence has stripped this building so? Whatever it is, beware if you are travelling near Oak Grove in this old part of the grid - do not tarry long lest what happened to the old saloon happens to you…

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A little history:

Part-wild west town, part-desert stage and part-car showroom, Oak Grove has always been a strange place. The history, as with all old places in SL, is an interesting mix of half-finished projects and builds transferred from other locations. The car lot is actually Busy Ben’s, a LL sponsored area where residents can win short term free rental for their vehicle retail businesses. The stage was once a bookable educational facility that replaced a Native American village that in turn complimented the wild west town where gun fights could take place for fun. The town itself was moved from another sim (Zoe) in 2003 and was a resident creation scheme that has long since stalled and been forgotten. The named owner if one Ryan Linden, Director of Product Management at Linden Lab and the man who created the user interface sounds that we all hear every day in SL.

Who knows, maybe my small film will nudge him to set the Linden hired creative team known as The Moles to work restoring this grand old place to its former glory.

This is HeadBurro Antfarm reporting for CNN iReport in the ghost town of Oak Grove.

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