Ghost Town USA’s

Guide to the Ghost Towns of

HOWARD COUNTY

MISSOURI

 

Howard County is located in the center of the state, bordering the north side of the Missouri River,

just east of Columbia, and midway between Kansas City (west) and St. Louis (east). 

The county seat is Fayette.

 

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A Guide to American Ghost Towns?

 

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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

ANDREWS STORE

0

Location not determined.

BOONES LICK

 

This salt lick produced salt as early as 1805, and was developed in 1807 by Daniel M. and Nathan Boone, two of the famed Daniel Boone’s sons.  It is on CR-MM, 19 miles northwest of Booneville.  (GBS)

CHARITON

0

This (populated place) was laid out at the mouth of the Chariton River by General Duff Green in 1817 and was abandoned in 1829 because it was regarded as too unhealthful to inhabit.  I suspect this was near Glasgow, or was to the west in present day Chariton County.  (Mike Flannigan)

 

In 1819, the Steamship “Independence “ navigated to this point.  By 1888 it was called “an abandoned town a short distance above Glasgow…” I suspect this is probably the same location as the Chariton County site, as the mouth of the Chariton River is in the far southern point of that county, and just a half-mile west of the Howard County line. (GBS)

COLES FORT

 

This populated place was named for Stephen Cole who led the several families who settled at this site, which was just below the present site of Booneville. (GNIS)

 

I assume this means downstream of Booneville.  (MF, Jan 25, 2001)

 

Howard County is on the north side of the Missouri River, and Boonville, is the county seat of Cole County, along the south bank.  Being that GNIS lists the site in Howard County, I would agree with Mike that the site is probably downstream (east) of Boonville AND on the north bank of the Missouri. The fort was built by Captain Stephen Cole in the 1830s. (GBS)

COOPERS FORT

0

This historic old fort was one of seven or more “Boones Lick Forts” located in the area.  They date to the War of 1812.  Coopers Fort was located about six miles west of Fort Hempstead. 

In 1975 the site was marked by an historical marker.

FRANKLIN

(1st site)

AKA – Old Franklin

0

In 1975 the site of this one-time Santa Fe Trailhead and county seat was located along SH 87, north of the junction with US 40, south of the present towns of Franklin and New Franklin, probably in the vicinity of the Boonville Airport. At its peak, several thousand folks lived here.  From 1816-1823 this was the county seat, but in that latter year the county seat relocated to Fayette and the town faded.  By 1843, the “Metropolis of the West” was nearly gone, and by 1975 the barren site was located in a farm field.  A couple Civil War battles were also fought here.  It is shown on the “Official Highway Map” for 2004. (GBS)

HARDEMANS GARDEN

 

This was a ten-acre botanical garden owned by John Hardeman that was washed away by the Missouri River. It was located five miles above old Franklin.

JACKMAN MILLS

25 (1880)

Location not determined.

LANDMARK

 

It was located on an old stage line road from Fayette to Columbia. This town received its name from a large tree that stood on a hill nearby.

LOUISVILLE

 

AKA – Louisville-on-Missouri-River, Thorntonsburg

 

This town was named Thorntonsburg in honor of the man who established the first ferry at Glasgow. The citizens, many of who were from KY, later changed the name to Louisville-on-Missouri-River. 

This is actually just north of Glasgow, barely over into Chariton county.  (Mike Flannigan, Jan 25, 2001)

ALSO LISTED IN CHARITON Co.

LOUISVILLE-ON-MISSOURI-RIVER

-

…SEE Louisville

MONTICELLO

 

This town was located northwest of Glasgow toward Chariton. This town was founded in 1821 and named for the home of Thomas Jefferson in Virginia.

I suspect this is near Aholt, MO.  (Mike Flannigan, Jan 25, 2001)

MYERS

53 (1880)

Location not determined.

OLD FRANKLIN

-

…SEE Franklin (1st site)

RICHMOND

 

Settlers from Virginia named this town for the capital of Virginia. It was extinct many years before 1928.

SEBREE

60 (1880)

Location not determined.

THORNTONSBURG

-

…SEE Louisville

WEST GLASGOW

0

Location not determined.

WHITES STORE

25 (1880)

Location not determined.

 

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 Spings | Rivermines

 

Listings of related groups of locations

FERRIES | MILLS | RURAL POST OFFICES | WAY STATIONS

 

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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

 

 

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FIRST POSTED: Aug 25, 2001

LAST UPDATE: Dec 31, 2005

 

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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

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