Road-trip index
Ghost Towns near Chicago
The survey records 360 vanished or historical sites within 100 miles of Chicago, IL. Here's what's closest — and which places have full records worth planning a day around.
Charted towns within range
Ulao, WI~101 mi
Vanished Place
A cordwood pier that fueled Lake Michigan's steamers — gone but for a few pilings.
Helena, WI~151 mi
Historic Townsite
A frontier shot-tower town on the Wisconsin River — its lead tower rebuilt in a state park.
Hindostan Falls, IN~229 mi
Vanished Place
Frontier Indiana's boomtown county seat, emptied by a single summer's epidemic.
Closest surveyed sites — records pending
Stateway Gardens, IL~3 mi
Robert Taylor Homes, IL~5 mi
Lincoln Square, IL~7 mi
Irondale, IL~13 mi
Mount Forest, IL~15 mi
Techny, IL~19 mi
Tedens, IL~22 mi
Judson, IL~43 mi
White Willow, IL~48 mi
Barnard Mill, IL~53 mi
Every one of these is on the national atlas map — zoom into the Chicago area to see them in place.