# Nearest ghost town **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637 "2014-06-12T16:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/1 "2014-06-12T16:59:55Z")
I would like to visit an abandoned town. Where is the nearest one? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/2 "2014-06-12T17:00:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I would like to visit an abandoned town. > > Where is the nearest one? Centralia, PA? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/3 "2014-06-12T17:17:16Z")
Wikipedia’s list of ghost towns in the U.S. > **[Lists of ghost towns in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_United_States)** > > This is a list of lists of ghost towns in the United States by state. There are quite a few listed in Virginia and Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/4 "2014-06-12T17:21:38Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Wikipedia’s list of ghost towns in the U.S. > [Lists of ghost towns in the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_United_States) > > There are quite a few listed in Virginia and Maryland. :smack: Of course. why wouldn’t Wikipedia have a list of ghost towns? That never occurred to me. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/5 "2014-06-12T18:47:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I would like to visit an abandoned town. Not a bad idea, especially if you’re on a road trip. I’ve been to a couple around the country. As you can see by Wiki there are quite a few. there’s a couple in South Dakota that are pretty neat. In fact there are a lot of neat things in South Dakota. North Dullkota, on the other hand, is like being on the moon, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/6 "2014-06-12T20:09:09Z")
[http://www.ghosttowns.com/](http://www.ghosttowns.com/) is a pretty decent place to start ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/7 "2014-06-12T20:38:37Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Wikipedia’s list of ghost towns in the U.S. > [Lists of ghost towns in the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_United_States) > > There are quite a few listed in Virginia and Maryland. Years and years ago I visited one in CO. I was driving on I70, I think, near Leadville, I think. I saw a bunch of abandoned buildings, pulled over and walked around. It was very cool. Went back again a few years later and it was still there. Can’t remember the name, though. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/8 "2014-06-12T20:54:43Z")
Centralia is neat, though there’s not much left to see. A few houses, widely scattered, they moved everything but the time capsule, the subsided highway, and the wasteland above the fire. There used to be more, but PA and old age took care of that. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/9 "2014-06-12T21:18:01Z")
I was looking on the list for some in Florida, and interestingly there were like three very close to each other on the south bank Lake Okeechobee. Just some roads left, I can see on Google Maps satellite view, so not really worth the trip for me. I wonder if they got clobbered by that heinous hurricane some time ago that caused massive flooding, and they never recovered. ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/10 "2014-06-13T01:07:26Z")
Look up Urbex forums and websites, although giving out good locations is generally discouraged you’ll still find loads ---
**Author:** ![Cognoscant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Cognoscant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cognoscant)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/11 "2014-06-15T00:36:51Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Centralia is neat, though there’s not much left to see. A few houses, widely scattered, they moved everything but the time capsule, the subsided highway, and the wasteland above the fire. There used to be more, but PA and old age took care of that. I remember riding through Centralia before it was evacuated, and to tell the truth, there wasn’t much there before. It had about 1,000 people at that time, according to Wikipedia, and it looked like only about half of those were actually “in town.” > [@Revtim](#): > > I was looking on the list for some in Florida, and interestingly there were like three very close to each other on the south bank Lake Okeechobee. Just some roads left, I can see on Google Maps satellite view, so not really worth the trip for me. I wonder if they got clobbered by that heinous hurricane some time ago that caused massive flooding, and they never recovered. There’s one called Flamingo in the Everglades. All you have to do is drive the 38 miles from the park entrance (which is itself 40 miles southwest of Miami) to the campground loops, walk about 4.5 miles along the Coastal Prairie Trail, which is extremely poorly marked and usually underwater in the summer, wade across Slagle Ditch, and it’s like somewhere near there. I’m sensing this is not really worth the trip for you either. I might try finding it in the winter, but after reading stories about “clouds of mosquitoes so thick they extinguished gas lamps” I’m not even keen on that. Bummer, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/12 "2014-06-15T01:13:20Z")
> [@Cognoscant](#): > > There’s one called Flamingo in the Everglades. All you have to do is drive the 38 miles from the park entrance (which is itself 40 miles southwest of Miami) to the campground loops, walk about 4.5 miles along the Coastal Prairie Trail, which is extremely poorly marked and usually underwater in the summer, wade across Slagle Ditch, and it’s like somewhere near there. I’m sensing this is not really worth the trip for you either. I might try finding it in the winter, but after reading stories about “clouds of mosquitoes so thick they extinguished gas lamps” I’m not even keen on that. Bummer, to be honest. Hard to believe people abandoned such a paradise… Hey, if you ever get bored, could you find the place on Google Maps (or Google Earth) and post a link? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/13 "2014-06-15T01:30:44Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Hard to believe people abandoned such a paradise… > > Hey, if you ever get bored, could you find the place on Google Maps (or Google Earth) and post a link? Here’s where the Coastal Prairie Trail and Slagle Ditch intersect, for a start. https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=25.1350685,-81.026544&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb&q=Flamingo%2BVisitor%2BCenter&cid=181906308623258356601981820699412193999 I don’t see anything, of course what little that remains might be totally obscured by nature, at least from the height of the Google Earth view. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/14 "2014-06-15T01:37:27Z")
I see the question’s been answered, so there’s no point in suggesting Detroit now. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/15 "2014-06-15T03:10:36Z")
Places that are called “ghost towns” are highly variable. Some still have viable building standing, others are just farmland where there is no sign that there had ever been a town. To varying degrees, historical interests have preserved remnants or historical markers and even museums One interesting ghost town is Santa Rita, New Mexico, birthplace of baseball hall of famer Ralph Kiner. The “townsite” is now floating in mid air, a few hundred feet above the ground, with the earth beneath the original townsite having been strip-mined away with a huge open pit beneath it. So if there are any “ghosts”, they’re airborne. Some have been repopulated, like Terlingua, Texas, now a thriving tourist center. Its population fell from 2,000 to zero, and is now back up to 58. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/16 "2014-06-15T03:26:55Z")
The site [ghosttowns.com](http://ghosttowns.com) lists four in Virginia and ten in Maryland. The site works OK in Chrome, but keeps crashing my Firefox. It is a good, detailed compendium of hundreds of ghost towns throughout the US and Canada. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/17 "2014-06-15T04:40:59Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Places that are called “ghost towns” are highly variable. Some still have viable building standing, others are just farmland where there is no sign that there had ever been a town. To varying degrees, historical interests have preserved remnants or historical markers and even museums Agreed. Most “ghost towns” are simply a a cemetery and one or two abandoned buildings anymore. Time,vandals and progress eliminates most ghost towns within a few years or decades after they become abandoned. OP, if you want a REAL SCARY ghost town, try Picher,OK. The town was abandoned due the extreme levels of pollution left from years of since and lead mining. Massive dunes of mine takings surround the town and the last person who was living there was forced out in 2011. I drove by that way in 2010 on my way back out here (went 3 hours out of my way to do so) and it was really creepy. The highway patrol occasionally comes through the area so if you are loitering they’ll probably tell you to move along. you don’t want to stay too long as the pollution levels there are unhealthy. Reference: > **[Picher, Oklahoma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picher,_Oklahoma)** > > Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County, northeastern Oklahoma, United States. It was a major national center of lead and zinc mining for more than 100 years in the heart of the Tri-State Mining District. > Decades of unrestricted subsurface excavation dangerously undermined most of Picher's town buildings and left giant piles of toxic metal-contaminated mine tailings (known as chat) heaped throughout the area. The discovery of cave-in risks, groundwater contamination and health ... ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/18 "2014-06-15T05:01:17Z")
If you follow the railroad from Grand Junction Colorado to Salt Lake City, there’s a ghost town about every 15 miles or so. They’re located where there’s access to water and coal. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/19 "2014-06-15T05:40:20Z")
They are all over Nevada. A nice one is art Berlin, NV near Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637/20 "2014-06-15T05:42:13Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > They are all over Nevada. A nice one is art Berlin, NV near Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park. Agreed. Although I heard that vandals were beginning to be a problem there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearest-ghost-town/690637.md?page=2)