I'm living in a ghost town created in such a way by a bunch of Boston investors to mine copper. Life really, really, sucked for those people stuck in paternalistic company towns. Something like 1/30 died on the job. Those injured too severely to work were given 30 days to move out of the company's house. They were essentially a slave labor force. My great-grandfather moved to Detroit to work for Mr. Ford and thought he was in paradise after hauling rock for 10 years from the age of 12.
The police forces, schools, stores, libraries, churches, sports teams, parks, EVERYTHING reinforced the company's position of power. There were a lot of deaths in strikes a hundred years ago before the gov't took back some of that power by requiring workers comp, overtime, etc. and the unions gained some negotiating traction in exchange for giving up communist agitation. (everywhere except on the Iron Range

)
The capitalists and regulators have been at odds ever since, and it's worked pretty well for the most part.