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Dust in the Wind

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

BARGER POST OFFICE

Established in 1910 and named for the Barger family. (GNIS)

CAMP IZAAK WALTON

Camp Izaak Walton was established on Bee Creek by some hunters about 1900 and named for the famous English writer.

(GNIS via Mike Flannigan - Jan 12, 2003)

CEDAR VALLEY POST OFFICE

Est in 1875 and named for the district of Cedar Valley. (GNIS)

CONNER POST OFFICE

Est from 1882 to 1891 named for the Conner family. (GNIS)

DEWEY BALD POST OFFICE

Named for Dewey Bald. (GNIS)

EAST VIEW POST OFFICE

Est and named in 1902 by SW Dickson. It takes its name from its location on the mountain. It was discontinued in 1929. (GNIS)

APPROXIMATE:

SW¼ Sec 25, T24N, R17W, 5^th Principal Meridian.

Lat: 36.7306155, Long: -92.7779479

Lat: 36º 43’ 50”N, Long: 92º 46’ 41”W – elevation 1411’

GREENLEAF POST OFFICE

Greenleaf was a post office from 1894 to 1900 named for the family which owned the land. (GNIS)

HAWORTH POST OFFICE

Haworth was a post office from 1889 to 1891 named for the Haworth family. (GNIS)

KICKAPOO CAMP

Kickapoo Camp was established in 1927 by C. L. Ford and named for the Indians.

(GNIS via Mike Flannigan – Jan 12, 2003)

KUGGAHO CAMP

Kuggaho Camp was a boys camp established by C. L. Ford in 1930 and named for the Indian tribe.

(GNIS via Mike Flannigan – Jan 12, 2003)

LAYTON POST OFFICE

Layton was a post office from 1889 to 1890 named for the Layton family. (GNIS)

MAIN ORCHARD POST OFFICE

Main Orchard was a post office near where Hollister now stands. (GNIS)

NEEDMORE STORE

Needmore Store was located on Little Caney Creek named because the owner said he needed more goods and money.

(GNIS via Mike Flannigan – Jan 12, 2003)

OSAKA POST OFFICE

Osaka was a post office named for the city in Japan. (GNIS)

POSSUM TROT

Possum Trot was a community in the roughest part of the county named for the many opossums in the area.

(GNIS via Mike Flannigan – Jan 12, 2003)

POWERS POST OFFICE

Powers was a post office from 1902 to 1904 named for the Powers family. (GNIS)

PRESBYTERIAN HILL POST OFFICE

Presbyterian Hill was a post office and assembly ground of the Presbyterian Church established in 1914 by Dr. Stringfield. (GNIS)

RUTHEY POST OFFICE

Ruthey was a post office from 1906 to 1914 named for the daughter of the first postmaster. (GNIS)

SKEETERVILLE

Skeeterville was named for the mosquitoes which infest this low, swampy place.

(GNIS via Mike Flannigan - Jan 12, 2003)

There was also a Skeeterville School nearby.  (GNIS)

TIDWELL POST OFFICE

Tidwell was a post office from 1891 to 1895 named for the Tidwell family. (GNIS)

WALNUT SHADE POST OFFICE

sec 34, T24N, R21W, Fifth Principal Mer

Lat: 36.7353380, Long: -93.1954587

Lat: 36º 44’ 07”N, Long: 93º 11’ 44”W – elevation 837’

WAYSIDE POST OFFICE

Was a PO at the head of Roller Hollow by the side of the road. (GNIS)

sec 1,T24N,R19W,Fifth Principal Mer

Lat: 36.7917252, Long: -92.9857316

Lat: 36º 47’ 30”N, Long: 92º 59’ 09”W – elevation 1096’

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.