Ghost Town USA’s

Guide to the Ghost Towns of

BENTON COUNTY

MISSOURI

 

Benton County is located in the west-central part of the state in the center of a triangle due north of Springfield, southwest of Jefferson City and southeast of Kansas City.  The county seat is Warsaw.

 

Do you have Gary’s book:

Dust in the Wind

A Guide to American Ghost Towns?

 

***

VISIT

Ghost Town USA’s SITE MAP

 

***

Return to

Ghost Town USA’s Missouri Index

 

***

Return to

Ghost Town USA’s

State Listings

 

***

Visit

Ghost Town USA’s

Ghost Town of the Month

 

 ***

 

Visit

Ghost Town USA’s Home Page

 

***

 

Visit

Ghost Town USA’s Photo Gallery

 

 ***

 

Send E-mail to Ghost Town USA

INTRODUCTION

 

Unless noted otherwise, information on this web page is from original research by Gary B. Speck.  However, much information in these ghost town listings is quoted from postings to the Rootsweb Missouri Ghost Town discussion forum (MO-GT), and that information is indicated as follows.  Specific information and/or personal comments will be appropriately credited with either names or initials, like (MF) {Mike Flannigan}, or (GBS) {Me}. In some cases, I didn’t save the name, so those will be indicated as MO-GT. 

 

If you know of any Missouri ghost town location not listed on these pages, please contact the MO-GT discussion forum, if you are a member.  If you are not a member, please contact me and I’ll pass on the information to the group.  If you are interested in Missouri ghost towns and would like to join the group, let me know and I’ll tell you how to join the forum. 

 

Please note that some minor editing for editorial consistency and spelling WAS made, as well as spelling out of directions (N, SE, NNW, etc), and numbers less than ten.

 

Highways are marked thus...

  • CR – County Roads
  • SH – State Highway
  • USUS Highway
  • IInterstate Highway

 

Locations marked with a $ indicate an admission fee is charged to visit the site.

Unless noted otherwise, all indicated population figures are from the 1990 census. 

GNIS stands for the US Geologic Survey’s Geographic Names Information System. 

 

Many of these listed locations may be just rural post offices, country churches, schools, forts, stage stations, crossroads stores, mills or river fords, rather than what we normally consider towns.  The reason for that is that many of these smaller locations had small communities grow up around the main business. 

 

Memories of the past glory of these one-time active communities still float like dust in the wind over Missouri’s hillsides and prairie.  The winds of time that created these ghosts reach deep into America's Heartland and those gentle zephyrs take those past memories and deposit them in front of you.  Reach out and grab them!  Without further ado, let’s visit some of Missouri’s many hundreds of ghost towns!

 

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.

 

THE GHOSTS

 

 

SITE NAME

 

POPULATION

1990

U.N.O.

 

DESCRIPTION & LOCATION

BRAUERSVILLE

20 (1880)

Located in the northeast corner of the county. Exact map location not determined.

CAMP COLE

0

Location not determined.    A Civil War battle was fought here in 1861.

CHAPMAN

0

Chapman was a rural post office from 1887 to 1893, located 7.5 miles east of Warsaw. It was named for the man who gave the land for the town site.

CLOVERDALE

0

Cloverdale was a village in the center of White Township and had a post office between 1867-1868.

COLE CAMP MINE

0

This important lead mine is listed in 1888 Goodspeed’s History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford & Gasconade Counties, Missouri.  The citation reads: “Benton County contains a number of lead deposits, the most important being the Cole Cany (sic) mines.”  (GBS)

 

“The actual mines were located four miles south of Cole Camp on what was once a station called Tahoma on the Sedalia, Warsaw and Southern Railroad line to Warsaw MO. (Abandoned 1946). The site was also known as Raymond and once had eight different mines producing lead, zinc, barites and some silver. It once had 40 families, two general stores, a blacksmith, hotel, post office and the mines employed over 100 men. Most mining activity ended prior to World War I (1916) but some of the tailing piles were reworked up into the 1920s and creek gravel was mined from Cole Camp Creek into the 1940s.  Today the site has evidence of tailing and chat piles and concrete foundations of the mill. There are open water filled shafts also in the area.” 

Contributed by: Kenneth L. Bird, Cole Camp Area Historical Society

 

The town of Cole Camp has a population of about 1025, and is very much alive.  (GBS)

DELL DELIGHT

25 (1880)

Location not determined. 

DUROC

35 (1880)

Located in the southeast part of the county.  Exact map location not determined. 

FARGO

0

Fargo was a rural post office from 1895 to 1901.  It was possibly named for W. G. Fargo, one of the founders of Wells, Fargo Express Company.

FREDONIA

0

Fredonia was a rural post office from 1896 to 1910. It was located on the Osage River in northern Union Township. The name means "Home of Freedom".

FRISTOE TOWN

 

AKA:  Old Town

70

Fristoe Town was an early trading post or village north of Warsaw.  It was established by Judge M. Fristoe, and was a formidable rival with Warsaw in the race for the County Seat in 1837. It was also called Old Town because it was older than Bledsoes Landing. 

 

It could be that Fristoe and some of these others are now under the Osage River after the dam was built at Warsaw.  (Dolores 12/30/2001)

 

I suspect you are right.  Probably quite a few are underwater now.  (MF)

 

The current town of Fristoe had 70 folks in 1990.  (GBS)

FULLER

0

Fuller was a rural post office from 1897 to 1899.

GARRETTS MILL

0

Garretts Mill was a sawing, planing, hub and spoke mill on Grand River, 3.5 miles northeast of Warsaw. It operated in 1874, and was named for the owner.

GIBSON

0

Gibson was a rural post office in 1889 and 1891.  It was named for the first owner of the store here.

GRANGE HALL

0

Grange Hall was located at Palo Pinto, during its days as a trading post. It was an assembly hall named for the secret associations known as Grangers.

HOCKMAN

0

50 (1880)

Hockman was a rural post office from 1886 to 1904. It was located in eastern Fristoe Township, nine miles east of Dell. It was named for W. W. Hockman, a prosperous farmer who moved to Benton Co. in 1875.

This is now Majorville.  (Mike Flannigan)

JOHNSON SPUR

0

Johnson Spur was located in the central part of Williams Township along the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It was named from the owner of the land on the ridge.

KREISSELS MILL

0

Kreissels Mill was a rural post office (1874) and mill in the southern part of William Township, along a branch of Cole Camp Creek. It was named for the owner of this early mill and post office.

This is a remote area and not much appears to be left of it. 

(Mike Flannigan)

LAKESIDE ESTATE

0

Lakeside Estate was a lake resort located on the north bank of the Osage River in southern Cole Township.

The community of Lakeside had a population of 60 in 1990.  It may be at or near the site of Lakeside Estate.  (GBS)

LESLIE

 

AKA:  Lessley

0

Leslie was a former village named after a local family.  It was located in the southeast corner of the county on the southern boundary of Union Township, about 6.5 miles east of the Smith - Black Cemetery. 

 

That would be where CH-YY crosses the Benton/Hickory county line south of CH-AA.  This is a VERY remote area.  Only 1 or 2 homes remain.  (MF)

Sec. 2, T38N, R21W

Approximate Latitude 38° 03’ 47” N, Longitude 093° 07’ 17” W.

LESSLEY

-

…SEE Leslie

LOWER FERRY

0

Lower Ferry crossed the Osage River at Warsaw. It was established by George Hooper. It was so called because it was a little below the Upper Ferry.

MAJORVILLE

 

AKA:  Hockman

rural

Hockman was a rural post office from 1886 to 1904. It was located in eastern Fristoe Township, nine miles east of Dell. It was named for W. W. Hockman, a prosperous farmer who moved to Benton Co. in 1875.

 

This is now Majorville.  (Mike Flannigan)

MELVIN

0

Melvin was a rural post office from 1897 to 1899. It was probably named from the Christian name of the first postmaster.

MOUNT VIEW

-

SEE Mountain View

MOUNTAIN VIEW

AKA:  Mount View

0

Mountain View was a rural post office located in southeastern Fristoe Township. It was established in 1853 as Mount View. The name was changed about 1862. It was discontinued in 1895. It was named for its location. 

NAY

0

Nay was located in central Williams Township and was a family name.

OLD TOWN

-

SEE Fristoe Town

SHAVER

0

Location not determined. 

UPPER FERRY

0

Upper Ferry crossed the Osage River above Warsaw. It was a little above Lower Ferry.

 

MORE INFORMATION

 

 

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 MISSOURI,

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 an 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 MISSOURI 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 MISSOURI, please abide by the

 Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics.

 

 

Also visit:

 

Ghost Town USA’s Ghost Towns of Missouri

 
Missouri Ghost Town locations with names beginning:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | PQ | R | S | T | UV | W | XYZ

 

Detailed information on individual locations:

Blythedale | Haran | McLellan Springs | Rivermines

 

Listings of related groups of locations

FERRIES | MILLS | RURAL POST OFFICES | WAY STATIONS

 

***

 

Also visit: Ghost Town USA’s

 

Home Page | Site Map | Ghost Town Listings | Photo Gallery | Treasure Legends

CURRENT Ghost Town of the Month | PAST Ghost Towns of the Month

Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics | Publications | Genealogy | License Plate Collecting

 

A few LINKS to outside webpages:

Ghost Towns | Treasure Hunting | License Plate Collecting | Genealogy

 

 

***

 

FIRST POSTED: Jan 19, 2002

LAST UPDATE: Jan 21, 2007

 

***

 

This entire website, and all individual web pages is
copyright © 1998-2010
by Gary B Speck Publications

 

ON THIS PAGE, copyright is not claimed for information quoted from the Missouri Ghost Town discussion group, which is marked as noted in the introduction above.  All other unmarked information falls under Gary B. Speck Publication’s copyright protection.

 

The MO GT DISCUSSION FORUM information is posted as a public service for all “subscribers” to the group and is posted with their permission.  It is not to be used for commercial gain without the express written consent of the individuals who make up this discussion forum.

If you have any questions regarding this disclaimer, please contact me at GHOST TOWN USA

ALL rights reserved