Brent Underwood
- When he was 30, Brent Underwood left Austin and moved to an abandoned mining town.
- While restoring the town he's realized that people approach finding a purpose the wrong way.
- Underwood spoke to Business Insider from 900 ft beneath ground level while sheltering from a snowstorm.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brent Underwood about his experience moving to a Californian ghost town. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2018, my friend sent me a listing for Cerro Gordo, an abandoned mining town in California. "This might be your next project," he joked.
The idea of a remote town in the American West was very alluring to me. It reminded me of the old TV westerns my grandfather watched every day.