List of ghost towns in North Dakota

A sign along the railroad tracks in Petrel

The abandoned Falsen School in Verendrye

Abandoned church in Temple

Several ghost towns have been recorded in North Dakota and are in various states of disrepair; some are mostly intact but have no residents, while others have completely barren or inaccessible sites. Other communities might have a small population but are frequently referred to as a ghost town due to population decline and disrepair.

Classification

Barren site

• Sites no longer in existence
• Sites that have been destroyed
• Submerged
• Reverted to pasture
• May have a few difficult-to-find foundations/footings at most

Neglected site

• Only rubble left
• All buildings uninhabited
• Roofless building ruins
• Some buildings or houses still standing

Abandoned site

• Buildings or houses still standing
• Buildings and houses all abandoned
• No population, except caretaker
• Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings

Semi-abandoned site

• Building or houses still standing
• Buildings and houses largely abandoned
• Fewer than 50 residents
• Many abandoned buildings
• Small population

Ghost towns

Name	County	Settled	Abandoned	Status	Notes
Alfred	LaMoure			Semi-abandoned
Amidon	Slope	1910		Semi-abandoned	[1]
Appam	Williams	1916		Semi-abandoned
Arena	Burleigh	1906	1996	Abandoned
Aurelia	Ward			Abandoned
Baden	Ward			Barren
Beaver Creek	Williams		c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Belden	Mountrail	1904		Semi-abandoned
Bentley	Hettinger	1910		Semi-abandoned	[3]
Brisbane	Grant	1906		Barren	[4] [5]
Carbury	Bottineau	1901	c. 2000	Abandoned
Bucyrus	Adams	1908		Semi-abandoned	[1]
Charbonneau	McKenzie		c.1960	Abandoned	[6]
Charging Eagle	Dunn		c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Cleveland	Stutsman	1882		Semi-abandoned	[1]
Clyde	Cavalier	1905		Semi-abandoned
Dengate	Morton
Dogtooth	Grant	1876	c. 1911	Barren	[7]
Elbowoods	McLean	1889	1954	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Epworth	Mountrail
Fort Buford	Williams	1866	1895	Abandoned	U.S. Army fort
Freda	Grant	1910	c. 1975	Neglected
Gascoyne	Bowman	1911		Semi-abandoned	[1]
Gorham	Billings	c. 1899	1972	Abandoned
Hample	Sargent			Barren
Hartland	Ward	1907	1966
Heaton	Wells	1895		Semi-abandoned	[8]
Independence	Dunn		c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Ives	Bowman			Barren
Kenaston	Ward			Semi-abandoned
Keystone	Dickey
Kongsberg	McHenry			Abandoned
Leipzig	Grant	1896	1910	Barren	[3]
Lonetree	Ward
Lucky Butte			c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Lynwood	Morton			Barren
McKinney	Renville
Mose	Griggs	1889	1943	Barren
Mt. Carmel
Nishu			c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Old Fort Rice	Morton	1864	1878	Abandoned	United States Military fort
Old Sanish		c.1915	1953	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Omemee	Bottineau	1887	c. 1990s	Neglected
Petrel	Adams	1908		Barren
Pierce	Burleigh		c. 1970's	Barren	Small community east of Bismarck, but got replaced by Lincoln. It is now reverted to pasture.
Red Butte			c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Roseglen	McLean			Semi-abandoned
Sanger	Oliver	1879	1985	Barren
Schafer	McKen-zie			Neglected	[9]
Schmidt	Morton			Barren
Shell Creek			c. 1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea [2]
Sherbrooke	Steele	1884	circa 1920	Neglected	Abandoned after the county seat moved from it to Finley, North Dakota, in 1919.
Sims	Morton	1883		Semi-abandoned	Sims still has an active church, but nobody lives there anymore [10]
Sully Springs	Billings	c. 1880	c. 1939	Barren	Railroad town abandoned during the Great Depression [11]
Tagus	Mountrail	1900	2001	Semi-abandoned
Temple	Williams	1906	c. 1965	Neglected
Temvik	Emmons	1904	2000
Three V Crossing	Slope	1883	1910	Barren	Now a ranch, but used to be home to a post office, a general store, and a stagecoach stop.
Ukraina	Billings	c. 1906	c. 1949	Neglected	Only two cemeteries left
Verendrye	McHenry	1912	1970	Neglected
Wabek	Mountrail			Abandoned	[12]
Watrous	Hettinger	1910		Neglected
Wheelock	Williams	1902	c. 1996	Semi-abandoned
White Butte	Slope			Abandoned	This is talking about the abandoned town, White Butte, not the mountain.
Whitman	Nelson			Semi-abandoned

References

1. Speck, Gary B. (2024). "The Midwestern States". Ghost Towns: America's Abandoned Sites and Settlements. Morton Grove, IL: Publications International. pp. 102–105. ISBN   978-1-63938-623-9.
2. Dura, Jack (June 11, 2022). "The Story of Elbowoods". Prairie Public . Prairie Public Broadcasting. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
3. New Milwaukee Towns, Mandan [North Dakota] Pioneer 4/8/1910 Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
4. Brisbane, ND Postal Application 1910 Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
5. Brisbane North Dakota Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
6. Dura, Jack (November 1, 2016). "Memories still remain in Charbonneau" . McKenzie County Farmer. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
7. Where was Dogtooth North Dakota? Archived 2008-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
8. "Heaton". The Herald-Press. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
9. "The ghost town of Schafer". The Bismarck Tribune . October 27, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
10. "Sims, ND". Ghosts of North Dakota. September 11, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
11. Hoffbeck, Steve (June 10, 2022). "Sully Springs, A Badlands Ghost Town". Prairie Public . Retrieved April 18, 2024.
12. Davis, Lauren (October 5, 2021). "Hidden History: Preserved Wabek schoolhouse in a "ghost town"". KX News. Retrieved April 17, 2024.

Further reading

• Bingham, Katherine Rose (2024). Abandoned Eastern North Dakota: Pure Decay of the Peace Garden State. Fonthill Media. ISBN   9781634994774.
• Hargrove, Zachary (2019). Abandoned North Dakota: Weathered by Time. Fonthill Media. ISBN   9781634991971.
• Larson, Troy (2013). Ghosts of North Dakota: North Dakota's Ghost Town and Abandoned Places. Sonic Tremor Media LLC. ISBN   9780989096904.

External links

• Ghosts of North Dakota