Road-trip index
Ghost Towns near Philadelphia
The survey records 1,474 vanished or historical sites within 100 miles of Philadelphia, PA. Here's what's closest — and which places have full records worth planning a day around.
Charted towns within range
Verified Ghost Town
A Schuylkill Canal hamlet emptied in the shadow of a cooling tower.
Historic Townsite
The Pine Barrens iron town that armed Washington's army.
Historic Townsite
'The Deserted Village' — a mill town, then a resort, preserved in the Watchung woods.
Historic Townsite
North America's most complete anthracite patch town — saved by a film crew.
Historic Townsite
A Delaware Valley farm village emptied for a dam that was never built.
Near-Abandoned
The coal town condemned over a fire that is still burning underneath it.
Closest surveyed sites — records pending
Every one of these is on the national atlas map — zoom into the Philadelphia area to see them in place.