About Ghost Town USA
Ghost Town USA is a browsable atlas of 4,644 ghost towns across all 50 US states — mining camps, railroad towns, mill villages, and flooded settlements, from perfectly preserved streets to lonely foundations.
The directory is built from public records, primarily the state-level ghost town lists maintained on Wikipedia, cross-checked and enriched with status, access, and location information where available. It is a starting point for research and exploration, not a substitute for local knowledge.
Who publishes this
Ghost Town USA is an independent research project maintained by a small editorial team. Every town page is published under the Ghost Town USA research team — there are no anonymous scraped listings and no pay-to-rank placements.
How each page is built
Each town entry starts from public records — primarily the state-level ghost town lists maintained on Wikipedia, supplemented by the federal GNIS geographic database. Drafts are researched and written with AI assistance, then checked against those sources before publication. Where a fact can't be verified — a founding date, an abandonment cause, current access — the page says so instead of inventing one. Photos come from Wikimedia Commons and are credited to their authors.
Visit responsibly
Ghost towns are fragile and sometimes dangerous. Stay out of mines and unstable structures, leave every artifact where you found it, and never trespass on private land. Access changes over time — verify before visiting, and respect private property.
Corrections & additions
Found an error, or know a town we missed? The directory improves with firsthand reports. Check a town's access details with the managing land agency and share what you find with the local historical society.