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
• US – US Highway
• I – Interstate 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.

SITE NAME

POPULATION

1990

U.N.O.

DESCRIPTION & LOCATION

AUSTIN CITY

AKA – Deepwater (don’t confuse with present town of Deepwater)

0

Austin City was located in southern Walker Township. It was started by Dr. A. Jones and J. H. Austin, for whom the town was named. The post office was called Deepwater. The town was removed to Germantown about 1864.

Current day Deepwater (1990 pop-441 GBS) is south of Clinton.  It is about 16.2 miles east, and a little south, of the location description for Austin City.  I'm not sure, but I suspect either Deepwater was moved east, or the residents of Austin city got their mail from far away.  The other option is that the Walker township description is wrong.  (Mike Flannigan)

AVERY SETTLEMENT

Avery Settlement was located in northwestern Tebe Township. It was named for a family who settled here.

BAKER

18 (1880)

Location not determined.

CARRSVILLE

0

Location not determined, but it is probably the same as Carrsville Mill (below)

CARRSVILLE MILL

Carrsville Mill was established in Big Creek Township by an early settler for whom it was named.

I’m wondering if this is Petersburg.  (Mike Flannigan)

COALESBURG

Located in the east-central part of the county, but the exact map location is not determined.

COLLINS MILL

Collins Mill was located in southeastern Henry County. It was  erected in 1835 by William Collins for whom it was named.

COLOMA

Coloma was a town in Big Creek Township, laid out in 1855 on land granted by Alfred Kimsey, Nathan D. Lane, and Gideon Dunham, trustees of the Concord School District.

DEEPWATER

…SEE Austin City

DIXONS MILL

Dixons Mill was erected on Honey Creek in 1838.  It was owned by John Dixon, for whom it was named.

FAIRMOUNT

Fairmount was a town in Bear Creek Township, laid out on land granted by Jerome McAbee in 1857.

GALBRAITHS STORE

Location not determined.

GEDNEY

Location not determined.

GLENROCK

Glenrock was a trading point in southeastern Leesville Township. It was established in 1880. It was named for the man who had the first store there. It was abandoned before 1933.

I think this is present day Tightwad.  (Mike Flannigan)

GOFFS POST OFFICE

Goffs Post Office was the first post office in the county. It was established in 1835 in Deer Creek Township, and named for William Goff, the first postmaster.

Probably located near Calhoun.  (Mike Flannigan)

HUNTLEY MILL

Huntley Mill was erected in 1845 on Grand River in Clinton Township. It was named for the man who operated the mill.

INDUSTRY

50 (1880)

Industry was a town in northern Honey Creek Township. It was laid out on land granted by Leander Bensley in 1883.

JACKSON MILL

Jackson Mill was a water-powered mill on Grand River in Clinton Township.  It was established in 1840 by Mr. Jackson. It was abandoned by the turn of the century.

JONESVILLE

Jonesville was a town in Fairview Township, laid out in 1857, on land granted by Humphrey Hogan.

KIMSEYS MILL

Kimseys Mill was erected in 1837 on Honey Creek in Big Creek Township by Littlebury Kimsey.

Might be near Garland, but I'm not sure.  (Mike Flannigan)

KIMSEYVILLE

Kimseyville was located in Big Creek Township. It was named for a family of Kimseys, who settled there.

Might be near Garland, but I'm not sure.  (Mike Flannigan)

LOCUST GROVE

Locust Grove was a settlement and office in Bethlehem Township It was named for its location in a locust grove.

MALLARD

Mallard was a station on the K C & S Railroad in central Honey Creek Township where duck hunters got off the train. It was named for the duck.

MARVIN POST OFFICE

Marvin Post Office was located in Davis Township near where Delmar now stands. It was named for a minister, who was a prominent citizen and was in the legislature.

NORTH POST OFFICE

North Post Office was located in Clinton Township on the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad. It was named for a man who came from the east and operated the mines for a short time.

PARKS SETTLEMENT

Parks Settlement was located in Leesville Township It was started in 1833, and named from the Parks family that came from Lincoln Co. Kentucky in 1830.

I think this is southwest of Tightwad.  (Mike Flannigan)

PATRICK

Patrick was located in the north-central part of the county. It may have been named for the Christian name of Patrick Henry.

THORNTONS FERRY

Thorntons Ferry was a ferry across Grand River operated by John T. Thornton.

TOLEDO POST OFFICE

Toledo Post Office was located in Springfield Township.  It was laid out in 1860 on land granted by R. Robinson and L. Greeson.

Probably located somewhat near Calhoun.  (Mike Flannigan)

TOPE POST OFFICE

Tope Post Office was located in Osage Township.  It was named for G. M. Tope, who owned the store.

UNEEDA

Uneeda was a hamlet in central Bear Creek Township started by Mr. Newton Hurst about 1895. It was named for Uneeda Biscuit.

Probably located a few miles east of Montrose. (Mike Flannigan)

WADES MILL

Wades Mill was erected in Tebo Township in 1835 by Richard Wade, for whom it was named.

Maybe located near Wade Cemetery?  (Mike Flannigan)

WAVERLY

Waverly was located in the northwestern part of the county.

WHITES FERRY

0

Whites Ferry was located near the crossing at Brownington in the Grand River. It was operated by David White.

This is flooded by Truman Lake now.  (Mike Flannigan)

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.