Ghost Town USA’s

Guide to the Ghost Towns of

MORGAN COUNTY

MISSOURI

 

Morgan County is located in the center of the state, on the north side of the Lake of the Ozarks,

west of Jefferson City.  The county seat is Versailles.

 

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

BLISS

 

Bliss was a village in the southeastern part of Osage Township. It was a family name. (Sep 21, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

BONDS MINE

 

Bonds Mines was a post office 15 miles south of Versailles. It was named for the owner of the mines.

Looks like it was 2.5 miles north of Laurie.

(Sep 21, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

BRANDY HILL POST OFFICE

 

Brandy Hill Post Office was located in the northeastern part of Buffalo Township.  (Sep 21, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

CARVER

 

Carver was a post office in 1901. (Sep 21, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

COPE

 

Cope was a post office in 1899 and 1900. (Sep 21, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

DOGWOOD GROVE

 

Dogwood Grove was a post office in 1860, and from 1867 to 1868. It was apparently named for its location among dogwood trees.

(Sep 29, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

DOW

 

Dow was a village in the extreme northeastern corner of Mill Creek Township. It was located on the Missouri-Pacific Railroad. It was named for the first owner of a store there.

Just barely east of Syracuse.  (Sep 29, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

ENID

 

Enid was a post office from 1899-1904. It was located in the central part of Moreau Township. Enid was the Christian name of the wife to the founder.  (Sep 29, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

FELIX

 

Felix was a post office in 1853. (Sep 29, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

GEHLKEN

 

Gehlken was a post office in 1895-1896 and named for the first postmaster.  (Sep 29, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

HUMES MILL

 

Humes Mill was a saw and grist mill in the NW part of Osage Township. It was named for the first owners, the Hume brothers.

This is probably about 1.5 miles northwest of Gravois Mills, all the way up the Gravois Arm of Lake of the Ozarks.

(Oct 12, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

IONIA

 

Ionia was laid out in 1841, six miles north of Versailles. It was abandoned by 1874.  I think this is Glensted.  (Oct 12, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

LONE GROVE

 

Lone Grove was a post office in 1867-1868. The name was probably descriptive of its location. (Oct 12, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

MILLVILLE

0

In 1833, when Morgan County was formed, Millville was chosen as the county seat.  In 1834, the seat was moved to Versailles, and in 1888, Millville was “extinct”.  (GBS)

MINERVA

 

Minerva was a village in the western part of Morgan County in 1867. It was probably named for the wife or daughter of the storekeeper.

(Oct 12, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

MINING PORT

 

AKA Miningport

 

Mining Port was a loading dock and village in the southern part of Osage Township, on the Osage River. The name is descriptive.  AKA Miningport Probably flooded by the Lake of the Ozarks. 

(Oct 12, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

REEDSBURG

 

Reedsburg was a village located in Cedar Township. It was platted Jan 1, 1858. It was named for the founder, Norman Reed, who expected the railroad to be built through there. It wasn't.

“To bad there isn't a Cedar Township in Morgan county.”

(Oct 19, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

RICO

 

Rico was a post office in 1895.  (Feb 2008 - Mike Flannigan)

ROGERS MILL

 

Rogers Mill was located in southern Haw Creek Township. It was named for the first owner. (Oct 19, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

SAINT MARTINS

 

Saint Martins was a post office from 1876-1896, located four miles east of Glensted in northern Moreau Township.  Martin was a family name in this section in 1880.  (Oct 19, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

SEARCH

 

Search was a post office from 1887-1895. It was located in southern Buffalo Township, on Little Buffalo Creek.  It may have been a fanciful name for a mining settlement. (Oct 19, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

SPRING INDUSTRIAL MILL

 

Spring Industrial Mill was located near a spring west of Gravois. It was named for its location, and because it had to do with an occupation.

Must have been at the hatchery west of Gravois Mills at Collins Spring.

(Oct 19, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

SWINDLERS STATION

 

Swindlers Station was a village in the central part of Moreau Township, located on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1880. It was probably named for the landowner. (Oct 31, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

TUCKERSVILLE

 

Tuckersville was a village in the extreme southern part of the county, nearly surrounded by the Osage River. It was a family name.  GNIS has this listed in both Camden and Morgan counties.

This was possibly on Ivy Bend. (Oct 31, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

WAYHAM

 

Wayham was a post office from 1910-1930. It was located in the southeastern corner of Osage Township.  (Oct 31, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

ZWANZIG

 

Zwanzig was a post office from 1895-1901. Augustus Zwanzig owned land and a flour mill at this location as early as 1880.  

(Oct 31, 2002 - Mike Flannigan)

 

 

 

 

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

 

***

 

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: Jun 19, 2004

LAST UPDATE: May 10, 2008

 

***

 

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