Ghost Town Trails

State atlas · filed under IA

Ghost Towns of Iowa

Iowa emptied by railroad logic: towns platted every eight miles for steam-era shipping thinned relentlessly once trucks and highways made most of them redundant, and coal camps in the south added their own bust.

1,282 sites surveyed across Iowa — 2 charted with full records so far, entered by year of settlement. The rest are awaiting verification.

✕Charted — click for the recordSurveyed — records pending

Survey note

The federal place-name archive records 1,282 vanished or historical sites in Iowa — ghost towns, mining camps, townsites, and railroad stops. We chart them a few at a time, as the records can be verified. Every mark on this map is a place that once had a name.

TownClassification
PreparationMonona Co.Vanished PlaceBuxtonMonroe Co.Vanished Place

Society Pro

See Iowa as the surveyors drew it, 1879 to 1919

198 USGS survey sheets from those years cover Iowa. Pro lays them over today's map with a swipe between then and now, and adds every mine feature, lost place and mineral site the federal record holds for the state.

3,647mine features
3,430mineral sites
3,715lost places
198survey sheets

The full survey ledger

Every vanished town the federal archive records in Iowa — each with its own record page, verified and expanded over time.

Abbott CrossingHardin Co.Afton JunctionUnion Co.AgricolaMahaska Co.Alden StationHardin Co.AllenHarrison Co.Almoral SidingDelaware Co.AmbroseIowa Co.AmundWinnebago Co.ArgandJones Co.ArmahIowa Co.AtwoodKeokuk Co.BairdHarrison Co.BaltimoreHenry Co.BardLouisa Co.BarrellDecatur Co.BelfastHenry Co.BellCrawford Co.BellairAppanoose Co.BenanCarroll Co.BennettsvilleDubuque Co.Benton CityBenton Co.Benton StationBenton Co.BernhartJefferson Co.BerninaMahaska Co.BethelLouisa Co.Beverly DepotLinn Co.BiddickMontgomery Co.Big RockBlack Hawk Co.Big SpringWayne Co.BlackhawkDavis Co.BlandenPocahontas Co.BlocklyDecatur Co.BoiesBlack Hawk Co.BoltonMahaska Co.BrickerLee Co.BroganSac Co.BrookdalePlymouth Co.BrownsvillePoweshiek Co.BubonaEmmet Co.BuckinghamTama Co.Buena VistaLee Co.BuffaloMadison Co.BullardLee Co.Business CornersVan Buren Co.Caldwell SidingDallas Co.CaledoniaRinggold Co.CanfieldBlack Hawk Co.CanoeWinneshiek Co.CarneyFloyd Co.CassJones Co.Castle GroveJones Co.ChaneyClinton Co.Chapel HillScott Co.ChequestDavis Co.Clarinda JunctionMontgomery Co.ClarksonWarren Co.Clinton CenterWayne Co.CloudMarion Co.Coal SidingJasper Co.CordovaMarion Co.CorydonPolk Co.Crain CreekBlack Hawk Co.CreswellKeokuk Co.CurtisJohnson Co.Cypsum CityWebster Co.DairyvilleGrundy Co.DayfieldMuscatine Co.DaytonPage Co.DenovaHenry Co.DiamondAppanoose Co.DixieMitchell Co.Donley StationMarion Co.DoubledayFloyd Co.DoverIowa Co.DoverDavis Co.Dover MillsFayette Co.Downers GroveJones Co.DresdenChickasaw Co.DrewWright Co.DunnvilleDavis Co.East PortFremont Co.EdwardsBlack Hawk Co.EifieldMarion Co.EurekaFremont Co.EurekaWashington Co.EvanderO'Brien Co.ExeelsiorMahaska Co.FallowPalo Alto Co.FlugstadWebster Co.FordWarren Co.Forest CityHoward Co.FrankfortMontgomery Co.GambrillScott Co.Giard StationClayton Co.GlasgowBlack Hawk Co.GrahamJohnson Co.GranvilleMahaska Co.Green BayClarke Co.Green CastleJohnson Co.GreenbushWarren Co.Grove CityCass Co.GrovelandClarke Co.HammondsburghWarren Co.Harlan JunctionPottawattamie Co.HentonsMills Co.HillsboroLouisa Co.HowellMarion Co.IcaridAdams Co.IndiantownCass Co.IngersollDallas Co.IokaKeokuk Co.IolaPottawattamie Co.Iowa JunctionWashington Co.JacksonvilleClarke Co.JeffersonvilleLee Co.JohnsonJones Co.JunctionWinneshiek Co.KebWapello Co.KemlingPottawattamie Co.Keteban SwitchLee Co.LafayetteLouisa Co.LakewoodLyon Co.LeeRinggold Co.LemontAdair Co.LexingtonVan Buren Co.LizardPocahontas Co.Lowther StationHoward Co.Lucky ValleyWoodbury Co.MaclayClay Co.ManathekaBenton Co.Maple LandingMonona Co.MarshallRinggold Co.McCloySac Co.MendotaAppanoose Co.MidwayJohnson Co.Moores SidingKossuth Co.MoorevilleTama Co.Morgin ValleyMarion Co.MorrisburghGuthrie Co.MortimerRinggold Co.NewtownPottawattamie Co.NoelScott Co.NormanWinnebago Co.NuelWright Co.Oakwood StationPolk Co.OzarkJackson Co.PalestineVan Buren Co.ParisLinn Co.ParkhurstJohnson Co.ParksvilleVan Buren Co.PercyMarion Co.Pine MillsMuscatine Co.Pleasant HillVan Buren Co.Pleasant ViewDavis Co.PlymouthPlymouth Co.Port AllenMuscatine Co.PredoniaMarshall Co.Queen CityAdams Co.QuilhartPolk Co.RamessaClinton Co.RatnaWinnebago Co.RedmanTama Co.RemickerHamilton Co.RicevilleMitchell Co.RiderPolk Co.RinggoldRinggold Co.RockawayJackson Co.RockinghamScott Co.RolfePocahontas Co.RosettaKeokuk Co.RussellvilleDavis Co.RussellvilleLee Co.Sac City JunctionSac Co.SecorHardin Co.ShepardUnion Co.SibylClinton Co.South River CrossingWarren Co.StimsonsCalhoun Co.Sugar CreekLee Co.Summerset JunctionWarren Co.SummitLee Co.SweaKossuth Co.Tarkio CityPage Co.TogoDecatur Co.Tower StationMonroe Co.TraxlerHenry Co.TroyLucas Co.TurnerJasper Co.Union BurgHarrison Co.ValdoraClayton Co.VulcanKeokuk Co.WassonvilleWashington Co.West Fort DodgeWebster Co.West UnionTama Co.WhitefieldJefferson Co.WillsburgPage Co.WilsonJasper Co.YattonWashington Co.
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