# Has a large US city ever just disappeared? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787 "2009-11-24T16:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/41 "2009-11-25T03:30:53Z")
A related thread: [small rural town drops off the map- plausible? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=511249) ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/42 "2009-11-25T03:57:51Z")
Does [Burning Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_man) have a place here? Almost 50,000 participants. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/43 "2009-11-25T07:57:49Z")
[Cahokia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia) once had a population of about 40,000. Now it’s an archeological site. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/44 "2009-11-25T08:52:45Z")
Time magazine is a doing extensive reporting on Detroit, including buying a house and reporting from it for a year. One plan was to concentrate the population into a downtown and raze building in a ring around the city that would be turned into parkland. Here is a link [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1925796,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1925796,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/45 "2009-11-25T14:01:45Z")
[Bellona](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhalgren) ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/46 "2009-11-25T17:34:44Z")
Didn’t they move [Springfield](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trash_of_the_Titans) five miles down the road from its original location? ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/47 "2009-11-25T20:26:50Z")
Hasn’t Utica, NY all-but-vanished? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/48 "2009-11-25T20:50:39Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Part of the larger San Francisco area, I’d say That’s really odd to me, since San Jose is much larger than SF and Oakland has its own identity and major sports teams. But I can’t be really be objective about it, as a (former) resident of SF. ::wondering if people really think that:: ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/49 "2009-11-25T21:05:14Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Annexation - I just looked up the largest cities in the US in 1900, and number 27 was Allegheny, PA at about 130,000. It was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907 to become the “North Side”, but it’s not like it really ceased to exist. As far as annexation goes, Brooklyn was much further up the list of largest cities in the US shortly before 1900, since its population was over a million before it became part of New York City in 1898. However, last time I visited, Brooklyn did not appear to have become a ghost town, so I don’t think annexation counts. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/50 "2009-11-25T22:26:23Z")
Not sure if this counts: When Europeans and Americans started coming to Hawaii, 1 million of the 1.2 million natives were killed, mostly by communicable diseases, within (iirc) 2-3 generations. Currently, the population of Hawaii is ~1.2 million. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/51 "2009-11-25T23:05:17Z")
How about a city that never was? [Elko Tract, Virginia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elko_Tract). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/52 "2009-11-25T23:39:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > That’s really odd to me, since San Jose is much larger than SF and Oakland has its own identity and major sports teams. But I can’t be really be objective about it, as a (former) resident of SF. > > ::wondering if people really think that:: I certainly do. I mean, yes, I know they’re separate cities but they’re all filed under “Greater San Francisco” in my mind’s geographic database. And I’m still surprised how many Americans cannot name _any_ cities in Australia besides Sydney. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/53 "2009-11-26T03:33:17Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > A lot of cities like Nome, Alaska and Virginia City, Nevada were mining cities so they had big (for the time) population but a lot of the population was never intending to stay on forever. > > Lot’s of cities lost major populations. Washington had over 800,000 at it’s peak as did St Louis. Both Baltimore and Cleveland had over 900,000. Chicago has lost around 900,000 from it’s peak population to now. > > But in those cases, as in the case of Detroit the metro areas (suburbs) grew as the central cities shrunk. Chicago has lost 900,000? You sure about that? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/54 "2009-11-26T05:46:52Z")
**Apalachicola, Florida** was once a thriving cotton port on the Gulf of Mexico (cotton was floated down the Apalachicola River from Georgia and Alabama). When the railroads came, Apalachicola dwindled in importance and population. Today it is a sleepy fishing village of 2,000. There are a lot of vacant “city” lots that have reverted to native vegetation. I’m having a hard time finding out the city’s population at its peak, but there has been considerable shrinkage. As for what happens to a city’s land when it shrinks, you can end up with a lot of vacant lots like Apalachicola, or the city can exercise eminent domain and clear blighted sections for parkland, redevelopment, or other use. The precedent for this was set in the 1954 Supreme Court case of [Berman v. Parker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berman_v._Parker) in which the Court cleared the way for the District of Columbia to redevelop large swaths of blighted land via eminent domain. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/55 "2009-11-27T05:13:37Z")
Driving back from Austin, TX to San Diego, CA in 1998, we ALMOST stopped in a town called Sierra Blanca, TX that is apparently the site of one of the largest sewage dumps in the U.S. - part of some kind of deal where a company dumped large quantities of waste from New York in the West Texas desert. I don’t know how big the town was at it’s peak, but at the time we stopped there, we had never seen a place quite so spooky in our lives. Most every building in downtown was boarded up with ‘no nukes’ and ‘no dump’ spray-painted on the boards. We high-tailed it out of there and stopped for the night in El Paso instead. And there I was looking for a “quaint” town to stop in for the night. Maybe if you’re filming a zombie apocalypse movie… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/56 "2009-11-27T05:29:21Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > Does [Burning Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_man) have a place here? > > Almost 50,000 participants. Woodstock had 400,000 for a weekend. ---
**Author:** ![St.Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@St.Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Anger)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/57 "2009-11-27T09:19:23Z")
Centralia, PA keeps hanging in there. It is still a legal borough of Pennsylvania, even with 9 denizens. The Mayor of Centralia, the last I checked, is 90 years old. There has been no real effort that I am aware of by any of the adjoining townships or the adjacent Borough of Ashland to annex Centralia, because frankly the land and tax revenue potential of it is completely worthless. If you are ever in the area, I’d recommend a drive-through and a hike of old route 61, it will totally creep you out. Centralia is part of Pennsylvania “Coalcracker” Country, and there are other former mini-cities up there that lost the bulk of their populations when they hit the ass end of the coal mining industry: Mahanoy City (16,000 to 5,000 in 60 years) , Shenandoah (30,000 to 5600 in 80) come to mind. Recently, there has been an influx of Mexican migrants who have purchased many homes on the cheap in the area, which has introduced many racial issues over the past 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/58 "2009-11-27T11:02:33Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > That’s really odd to me, since San Jose is much larger than SF and Oakland has its own identity and major sports teams. But I can’t be really be objective about it, as a (former) resident of SF. > > ::wondering if people really think that:: People outside the US, yep. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/59 "2009-11-27T14:17:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > That’s really odd to me, since San Jose is much larger than SF and Oakland has its own identity and major sports teams. But I can’t be really be objective about it, as a (former) resident of SF. > > ::wondering if people really think that:: I must admit that while I am aware that San Jose is a separate entity than S.F. I tend to think of them as one. Oakland does retain (somewhat) as separate identity in my mind. But if you asked me what exists near the bay besides S.F. I would be hard-pressed to name anything. And I have visited S.F. several times and love the place. But it is like thinking of New York vs New York New York… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787/60 "2009-11-27T21:42:36Z")
Again, not a US city, but otherwise relevant… [URL=“[Dunwich - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunwich)”]Dunwich Please excuse my coding… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-large-us-city-ever-just-disappeared/518787.md?page=4)