The Mayor of a Ghost Town (Population: 1)

Welcome to Ballarat, California, population one. Located in the heart of the unforgiving Death Valley, the former mining supply town has been abandoned for nearly 100 years. Were it not for Rock Novak, the town’s only resident, Ballarat would belong to the vultures.

"The Mayor of Ballarat" was directed by Mickey Todiwala and Monika Delgado. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

[grantglow]

My uncle Rock Novak, hes been living there for 14 years straight. Alone. If you happen to visit and remember, please tell him, "the paperboy sends his greetings". Ballarat is a special place, whenever I have a day off I take the 9 hour drive there. Just to sit on the porch and look. Happiness is what you make of it. Rocky found his.

[sassulusmagnus]

The guy is eccentric, but he seems to be satisfied with his life. I wonder how many "normal" people feel satisfied with their lives.

[dt]

"I'm a kinda conservative mayor, I save the town a lot of money, you know. The buildings, they get bad we just let 'em fall down"

That about sums it up lol

[Jo-iv]

That is one damn fine mayor. Look at the growth and social economic environment is thriving. Also the sheriff, caretaker, etc. Re elect him next term he deserves it.

[bryand]

Guy has a sense of humor, makes do with very little and seems perfectly happy doing so. You can only call him crazy if you can make the case that you're significantly more sane.

[hansdetuinkabouter]

Rocky is an amazing guy, with tuns of stories to tell, i've visited him with friends. cool to see he has his story online

[eugefederico]

He deserves a whole film about his life and his town.

[mobiltec]

I've known Rock and his dad George for a very long time. Spent a lot of time out there camping and exploring. Get out there and meet Rock for yourself while you still can. He's a legend.

[AR-ylfz]

The shots in this thing are just gorgeous

[forestyforest]

I feel lucky to have met this guy in person.

[NESherv]

"When I'm gone, I don't know what they're gonna do with this place. Probably nothing."
That made me laugh out loud.

[Dr.G]

It's nice to here Rocky's voice and see him here. I've been listening to Rocky and his dad George for almost 50 years. They both have given me fabulous memories. Genuinely nice people. They used to live on their own claim up a nearby canyon. The producers do a good job here. Rocky has since moved to his own property nearby. The town still has someone living there year round.

[crowsbaneful]

he'll haunt the place after his death, actually he's already doing that.

[whitewarrior]

"You don't wanna go down that road. Yeah, lotta history on that road. Or you could go down that road."

[NathanielHarari]

He's about as crazy a curmudgeon as I expect the mayor of a ghost town in Death Valley to be - and he looks the part.

[BeeJayyDaDon]

0:59 dude acting like he smoking a cigarette wit a toothpick 🤣🤣

[USDAselect]

Beautifully shot. Sometimes I think I subscribed for the visuals rather than the content.

[BrettHoustonTube]

Rock is awesome. I would always stop by on my way to Adventurize in Death Valley. He had some great stories. And was the most reliable source of information in the canyon for travelers.
This is a nice piece.
I wish I had filmed him. I never asked, I just assumed he would prefer his privacy.

[OLOpera]

This looks like it could have been written by Cormac McCarthy.

[jaososchefget]

I like how slow and mellow and honest this video is. And it's not that chick in that touristy town that everyone reports on either. Thanks Atlantic this was a quality video.