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Dust in the Wind -

A Guide to American Ghost Towns

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Indiana doesn’t usually rank high on the lists of most ghost town chasers, but the ghost towns are there.  As is so similar with other states located between the Appalachians and the Rockies, many ghost towns have been reduced to mere sites, or forgotten ruins in the local woods.  Local research and a lot of legwork is needed to ferret out many ghosts.

Listed below are a few of the sites that are available in Indiana.  I have not personally visited the state (yet), so all sites listed here-in have been discovered through research. 

If you live in Indiana and know of any of these locations, or any NOT listed, I would love to hear from you so I can add to my Indiana database.  If I post the information to these pages, I will credit you appropriately.

Towns grew up and died, and Indiana added many to the growing roster of ghosts that Ghost Town USA is out to discover and share.

PLEASE NOTE: 

Where photos are indicated thusly (PHOTO!), please use your browser’s “BACK” button to return to this page.  More photos will be added over time.

BEAN BLOSSOM CREEK

Brown Co.

The class E village of Bean Blossom is on Bean Blossom creek, at the junction of SH 135/45, five miles north of Nashville (south of Indianapolis). Placer gold mining took place along this creek from the 1870s-early 1900s.  Whether or not any small mining camps developed is not determined.  Pop 200 (1990)  

BELLEAIRE

Clay Co.

On Wabash & Erie Canal, three miles south of Bowling Green.

BLACKFORD

Posey Co.

1815-1818 boomtown whose location is not determined

CONRAD

Newton Co.

Along SH 41 and the railroad, just south of Lake Village, approximately 40 miles south of Gary.  Founded in 1908, the small town of 200 people included a church, concrete block factory, hotel, post office, railroad depot, and a school.  The streets were named after various members of the founding Conrad family.  A major fire swept through the town, and it never recovered.  It is now just a rubble-strewn site.

DUNCAN SETTLEMENT

Clay Co.

In the southeast corner of county.  Exact location not determined.

ENTERPRISE

Spencer Co.

Six miles southeast of Hatfield on the Ohio River, south of SH 66, west of US 231.  This once thriving Ohio River port was founded in 1862.  Evansville, down river eventually drew the steamer traffic away and Enterprise died.  In the 1980s four people lived here.

FORT OUIATENON

Tippecanoe Co.

Located on South River Road along the Wabash River, four miles southwest of Lafayette, this reconstructed trading post/village was originally built by the French in 1719 to help protect their fur traders from the British.  In 1761, the British took over, and in 1791, the fort and surrounding community was destroyed by American troops.

GOLD CREEK

Morgan Co.

Between SH 39 and SH 67, 25 miles southwest of Indianapolis.  In the early 1900s gold was found in streamside glacial gravels southwest of Indianapolis.  A small mining camp popped up along the creek, but the low pay of the deposits ($0.25 to 1.50 a day) didn't encourage many people, and the camp folded.   Other Morgan County mining camps were located on HIGHLAND CREEK, LAMB'S CREEK and SYCAMORE CREEK.  Sycamore and Lamb's Creeks were first mined during the 1850s by California Gold Rush returnees, but the poor pay from the glacial gravels frustrated them, and they moved on.  All three creeks were reworked in the early 1900s.

Hindostan

Martin Co.

Located along the East Fork of the White River, several miles southwest of Shoals, which is at the junction of US 50/150, 21 miles east of Washington.  Hindostan was established around 1814 by Frederick Sholts.  It became an important stage stopping place, as well as the county seat.  It contained a grist mill, saw mill and a tavern.  In June 1828 a plague of some kind swept through town, killing many of the citizens, and sending the rest on a panic to get out of town.  The county seat was transferred to Mt. Pleasant, and the site of Hindostan became a true ghost town.  Ruins include foundation pits, a restored church and a modern park near the site.

This was our GT of the Month for May 2008

KOSSUTH

Clay Co.

On SH 246 and west bank of Eel River, west of Martz.

LAST CHANCE STAGE STATION

Clay Co.

On SH 46, midway between Bowling Green and Terre Haute, near Cory.

LEAVENWORTH

Crawford Co.

Located along the river flats of the Ohio River two miles south of I-64 at EXIT 92 and 13 miles west of Corydon. The entire town was relocated to the bluffs above the river in 1937 after a bad flood destroyed most of the town.  The old site was abandoned.

MOLLIE

Blackford Co.

During the natural gas boom of the 1880’’s, Mollie sprang up as a little burg in what is now rural Blackford County. Mollie (though the name had long since been abandoned) was my hometown and my wife and I have just recently purchased the land that was once Mollie.

Contributed by Jeremy Rogers, May 19, 2006

NEW HARMONY

Posey Co.

Not to be confused with the present community of New Harmony (1990 pop-945) and located on US 460, 20 miles north of Evansville, along the Wabash River.  The first settlement here was called Harmonie, a communal colony founded in 1815 by George Rapp, a Pennsylvania Lutheran Church dissenter.  He and his followers lived here for 10 years, and in 1825 the site was purchased for use as a utopian colony by Welsh & Scot investors.  They established the first American free-school system and a kindergarten.  In 1827 they closed due to lack of funding for their project.  About 35 restored buildings remain in the New Harmony State Historical Park.

OLD TIPTOWN

Marshall Co.

This tiny town of 30 folks (1990) is on SH 331, just north of Tippecanoe, in the southeastern corner of the county.

PERTH

Clay Co.

This old coal camp is one of many located in the northern part of the county, five miles northwest of Brazil.  It was settled in the 1880s, and died in the 1930s.  It had a number of businesses, including saloons.

PIGEON ROOST

Scott Co.

Located on US 31, one mile east of Underwood.

RUTLAND

Marshall Co.

Only 30 folks lived here in 1990.  This tiny town is located in the southwest corner of the county, just east of Burr Oak and SH 17, and just northeast of Lake Maxinkuckee.

SPRING MILL

Lawrence Co.

Located on SH 60, several miles east of Mitchell.  This tiny 1815 era trading post/village has been restored, and consists of an apothecary, boot shop, water powered grist mill, hat maker shop, limekiln ruins, post office, and sawmill.

SULPHUR

Crawford Co.

This one-time resort was located near the present town of Sulphur, which is just south of I-64 at EXIT 80, 28 miles east of Dale.  A large 100-room grand hotel with bathhouses, bowling alley, post office, store, and bottling works for the sulfur-charged water was the extent of the tiny town in the late 1800s. 

TENT CITY

Marshall Co.

Located near Plymouth, Tent City was a temporary site where folks congregated due to high unemployment in the years following the Civil War.  A huge tent here housed a church, where dances were held in the evenings.  During warmer weather carnivals would come and set up.  After jobs became more accessible, the site became popular for folks to come and pick huckleberries in season. The site was popular until the early l920s when a brush fire damaged the plants and people stopped coming here.  In the early days there were some businesses here including a church whose services were held in a large tent. 

WEISBURG

Dearborn Co.

This tiny community of 75 folks is north of SH 48, east of the county line, and south of the road that runs west from New Alsace.  The road is not marked on the county map.

WOODS MILL

Lake Co.

A restored, historic, brick grist mill located on the Deep River, in Deep River County Park, which is along the east county line, just north of US 30, east of Merrillville.

Historians estimate that there may be as many

as 50,000 ghost towns scattered across the United States of America. During the next five years, Gary B. Speck Publications will be publishing unique state, regional, and county guides called

The Ghost Town Guru's Guide

to the Ghost Towns of *** ™

These original guides are designed for anybody interested in

ghost towns. Whether you are a casual tourist looking for a new and different place to visit, or a hard-core ghost town researcher, these guides will be just right for you. With over 30 years of research behind them, they will be a welcome addition to any

ghost towner's library.

Thank you, and we'll see you out on the Ghost Town Trail!

For more information on the ghost towns of INDIANA,

contact us at

Ghost Town USA.

E-mailers, PLEASE NOTE:

Due to the tremendous amount of viruses, worms and “spam,” out there, I no longer open any e-mails with unsolicited attachments, OR messages on the subject lines with “Hey”, “Hi”, “Need help”, “Help Please”, “???”, or blank subject lines, etc.  If you do send E-mail asking for information, or sharing information, PLEASE indicate the appropriate location AND state name, or other topic on the “subject” line.  THANK YOU!  :o)

IMPORTANT

These listings and historical vignettes of ghost towns, near-ghost towns and other historical sites in INDIANA above are for informational purposes only, and should NOT be construed to grant permission to trespass, metal detect, relic or treasure hunt at any of the listed sites.

If the reader of this guide is a metal detector user and plans to use this guide to locate sites for metal detecting or relic hunting, it is the READER'S responsibility to obtain written permission from the legal property owners. Please be advised, that any state or nationally owned sites will probably be off-limits to metal detector use. Also be aware of any federal, state or local laws restricting the same.

When you are exploring the ghost towns of INDIANA, please abide by the

Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics.