Town for Sale: A Talk with Dana Goodyear

In the recently published book, The Devil’s Punchbowl: A Cultural and Geographic Map of California Today, New Yorker writer, Dana Goodyear wrote a story about the town of Bridgeville in Humboldt County. It’s famously known as the town that was auctioned on Ebay. Without as much as a general store, the town has 30 residents and is saturated with meth heads and gangs, who have found it the perfect place to develop their products.  The town has been in financial ruin since its inception, but what makes this town different than others is that it is privately owned. 

Ownership of Bridgeville has changed hands several times since the 1940’s. Families and investors have dreamed of turning the ragged town into a utopian eco-resort, or secluded religious hub. Yet, with each exchange, the town gets further and further away from being habitable. With broken sewage systems and a lack of basic amenities, buyers who are initially drawn by its beauty are soon turned away by the massive amount of work and money that it would take to turn it into a civilized place. 

In the midst of all of the financial weeling and dealing, residents still live there, and have for quite a while. It’s mostly older folk. 

What will happen to this town? What’s its history? Dana Goodyear takes us there. 

I produced this piece; booking, researching, writing questions for the interview, and editing it.