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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
• 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

2000

U.N.O.

DESCRIPTION & LOCATION

AVON MINES

0

Located on Mineral Fork, this onetime lead mining and milling center was once one of the most active in the county. It is located in the southern tip of the county about 12 miles east-southeast of Farmington (St. Francois Co.).  (GBS)

Lat: 37.7558856, Long: -90.2045632

Lat: 37º45’21”N, Long: 090º12’16”W

BREMEN

…SEE New Bremen

JANIS GRISTMILL

…SEE Sherlock Gristmill

KEHL

A district in Ste. Genevieve Township.

McDANIELS

A siding near the county line.

NEW BREMEN

AKA – Bremen

Located between Ste. Genevieve and Ozora. 

NEW BOURBON

AKA – Nouvelle Bourbon, Nueva Borbon,

Village de Petites Cotes

-

The location of this old pioneering settlement is on US 61, about 2.5 miles southeast of the city of Ste Genevieve.  It was established in 1789. (GBS)

Lat: 37.9497750, Long: -90.0209451

Lat: 37º56’59”N, Long: 090º01’15”W

NEW TENNESSEE

Located in Saline Township. Families from Tennessee settled here in the early 1800s.

PRATTES FORD

…SEE Yallalys Ford

RIGDON’S MILL

Rigdons Mill - Ste. Genevieve county - Located three miles from River Aux Vases.  See Steven Schmidt’s linked web page for more information.

SAINT MARYS

377

St. Marys is south of Ste. Genevieve on Hwy 61.  ([email protected])

SAINTE GENEVIEVE

1^st site

0

The original site of Ste. Genevieve was located on the Mississippi River bottoms about three miles south-southeast of the present site.  It was washed away when the Mississippi flooded in 1785.  It was originally established around 1735 by French settlers, and is said to have been the first permanent settlement in what is now Missouri.  It served as a trading post and a base for lead miners.  The present town of Ste. Genevieve has a population of about 4500.

ST. MARYS

...SEE Saint Marys

STE. GENEVIEVE

1^st site –

...SEE Sainte Genevieve

SHERLOCK & ROBINSON SAWMILL

Located on Jonca Creek.

SHERLOCK GRISTMILL

AKA – Janis Gristmill

Located 0.5 mile from River Aux Vases. 

TURLEY MILL

Located ten miles north of Farmington.

This was probably on Bear Creek. (Mike Flannigan  Jun 08, 2002)

YALLALYS FORD

AKA – Prattes Ford

Located two miles east of Minnith on Saline Creek. 

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.