Wikipedia

List of ghost towns in Wisconsin

This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Wisconsin.

Classification

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Barren site

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

Neglected site

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  • Only rubble left
  • Roofless building ruins
  • Buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless

Abandoned site

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  • Building or houses still standing
  • Buildings and houses all abandoned
  • No population, except caretaker
  • Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings, for example old church, grocery store

Semi-abandoned site

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  • Building or houses still standing
  • Buildings and houses largely abandoned
  • Few residents
  • Many abandoned buildings
  • Small population

Historic community

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  • Building or houses still standing
  • Still a busy community
  • Smaller than its boom years
  • Population has decreased dramatically, to one fifth or less

Ghost towns

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Town name   Other names County   Latitude/longitude   Established   Disestablished   Current status Remarks   
Adams Center Adams 43°54′58″N 89°47′50″W 1964
Adamsville Iowa 42°54′26″N 89°54′45″W Birthplace of Alva Adams
Anchorage Buffalo 44°16′07″N 91°45′26″W Barren
Apostle Islands[1] Ashland and Bayfield 46°55′48″N 90°37′59″W September 26, 1970
Army Lake Walworth 42°48′24″N 88°22′31″W
Ashford Richland 43°20′48″N 90°28′05″W
Attica[2] Green 42°46′12″N 89°28′50″W Now part of the town of Brooklyn.
Aurora Kenosha April 30, 1891 Barren Site of one of the area's earliest post offices; now part of the city of Kenosha.
Bagdad Forest 45°39′22″N 88°42′13″W
Belmont[1][2] Lafayette 40°46'7"N 90°22'49"W 1836 1837 First Wisconsin territorial capital; abandoned after one session. Located about three miles NW of the present town of Belmont.
Benson's Corner[3] Nixon Corner, Bristol Corner Kenosha Located "just up the road" from the present community of Bristol.
Bissell Kenosha Absorbed Now part of the village of Bristol.
Bluff Siding[1][4] Buffalo
Bohri Buffalo 44°08′42″N 91°36′10″W
Calhoun Waukesha
Ceresco the Wisconsin Phalanx Fond du Lac 43°50′55″N 88°51′6″W 1844 1858 A commune founded by followers of the communitarian socialist ideas of Charles Fourier.
Charter Oak Mills Jackson 44°16′07″N 90°52′30″W
Cheyenne Valley[2] Vernon
Clarence Green 42°35′26″N 89°23′54″W
Clason Prairie Dodge
Clay Jackson 44°23′46″N 90°40′50″W
Clay Banks[5] Door
Cooksville[1][4] Rock
Coolidge Price 45°48'42"N 90°24'29"W
Cortland Trempealeau 44°12'50"N 91°34'04"W
Corwin Richland 43°30′12″N 90°16′53″W
Cream[1][4] Eagle Creek Buffalo
Crusher[4] Dodge
Cypress[3] Hoadley Kenosha There is some confusion as to whether Cypress was a later designator of Pikeville, or geographically distinct.
De Noon Waukesha and Racine
Delhi[6] Winnebago 44°01'22"N 88°48'08"W
Dell Prairie Adams 43°40'02"N 89°42'55"W
Dellwood[4] Adams
Dill[2] Adams
Dirty Hollow Iowa 42°57′48″N 90°7′52″W Today incorporated into the city of Dodgeville.
Dodges Corners Waukesha 42°51'32"N 88°14'30"W
Donaldson[4] Vilas
Dover Known variously as Heyworth, Reevesville, East Arena, and Ghorstville prior to 1851 Iowa 43°9′43″N 89°50′18″W 1844 ca. 1870 Originally established by the British Temperance and Emigration Society, Dover was slowly abandoned when it was bypassed by the railroad in favor of Mazomanie.
Dunville[1] Dunn
Emerson[1] Iron
Exeter[2] Green
Falls City[4] Eau Claire
Farmers Grove Green 42°47'06"N 89°43'27"W
Fellows Rock 42°44'53"N 89°12'03"W
Fordham Adams 43°58'55"N 89°44'20"W
Fort Crawford[1] Crawford
Fort Howard[1] Brown
Foscoro[5] Door
Frenchtown[2] Dane
Good Hope Milwaukee
Granite City Waupaca 44°38'02"N 88°59'28"W
Granite Quarry Waupaca 44°25'02"N 89°04'04"W
Gratiot's Grove[2] Lafayette
Harmon Washburn 46°04′04″N 91°40′06″W
Harrison Calumet 44°08′03″N 88°17′30″W
Hatton Waupaca 44°15′34″N 88°59′20″W
Helena[1] Old Helena, Helena Station Iowa
Henrietta Richland
Horns Pier[5] Door
Jefferson Prairie Settlement Rock 42°29'37"N 88°51'48"W
Kaiser Price 45°54'35"N 90°33'06"W
Keith Forest 45°30′30″N 88°52′58″W
Kennedy Price 45.9102815,-90.6662547
Kennedys Corners Sheboygan 43°40′28″N 87°52′13″W
Klondike Corner[3] Klondike Kenosha 42.590271 -88.134038 Now part of Brighton.
Knowlton[1] Marathon
Knox Mills Price 45.5000037,-90.1302873
Kurth Clark 44°34′27″N 90°29′48″W
Lake Emily Portage 44°28′40″N 89°20′05″W
LaRue[2] Sauk
Lawesburg Outagamie 44°15′31.02″N 88°23′00.47″W
Lime Rock Outagamie 44°30′03.52″N 88°21′03.77″W
Little Wolf Waupaca 44°25′20″N 88°54′05″W
Manson Oneida
Maple Works Clark
Marble Waupaca 44°33′45″N 88°52′15″W
Mayhews Walworth 42°45′47″N 88°29′24″W
McGrew Richland 43.3975039,-90.5013984
Mill Creek Richland 43.3866706,-90.5527107
Millville[1] Grant
Minersville Iowa 42.963337 -90.133299 Today incorporated into the city of Dodgeville.
Moe Settlement Columbia 43°35′55″N 89°41′58″W
Moscow[2] Iowa
Muskego Settlement Racine
Nasbro[4] Dodge
Nelsonville Eau Claire 44°39′15″N 91°34′12″W
Neshonoc[1] La Crosse
New Cassel Fond du Lac Eventually absorbed into Campellsport.
New Chester Adams
New City Trempealeau 44.3488927,-91.4498658
New Diggings[2] Lafayette
New Upsala Waukesha
Nowell Waupaca 44°29′22″N 88°47′53″W
Oak Grove Eau Claire 44°40′21″N 91°36′19″W
Oakwood Milwaukee
Oil City[2] Monroe
Old Tyrone Dunn 44°42′50″N 91°50′34″W
Perote Menominee 45°05′28″N 88°48′46″W
Petersville Waupaca 44°32′18″N 89°11′00″W
Pikeville Corners Pikeville Kenosha 42.49613 -88.0332206 While Pikeville continues to exist as a geographical place name on modern maps, today it is incorporated into the village of Bristol. See also Cypress, above.
Pilot Knob Adams 43.9875038,-89.6355651
Pleasant Ridge[2] Grant 42°49′52″N 90°48′47″W c. 1850 1959 Settled by formerly enslaved African Americans in the 1850s, Pleasant Ridge was home to over 100 people, approximately half of whom were African Americans, through the early 20th century. The last resident died in 1959.[7]
Pokerville[4][8] Dane
Porter's Mills Eau Claire 44°46′15″N 91°34′01″W
Quincy Adams
Ranney[4] Kenosha
Raymond Center Racine
Reeds Corners Fond du Lac
Roche a Cri Adams 44.0536149,-90.9539387
Rodney Waushara 43°59′07″N 89°07′42″W
Rogneys Jackson 44.193337 -91.060799
Root Creek Milwaukee
Sacramento[1] Waushara
Savoy Buffalo 44.523609 -92.058620
Schultz[2] Green
Selma[3] Sand Ridge Kenosha
Sinnipee[2] Grant 42°34′31″N 90°39′25″W
Springbluff Adams 43.9233371,-91.9189887
Springdale Buffalo 44.523609 -92.058620
St. Feriole Island[1] Crawford
St. Martin's Milwaukee
Staadts Marathon
Star Lake[1] Vilas
Stettin Marathon
Stewart[2] Green
Stonefield[1] Grant
Stonehaven[9][10] Ozaukee 43°29'48"N 87°47'41"W 1901 1925 Former company town of the Lake Shore Stone Company. Residents moved when the company closed the nearby quarry in 1925.
Sugar Bush[1] Marinette Destroyed in the great fire of 1871
Trow Clark 44°29′30″N 90°45′46″W
Turtleville[2] Rock
Valley Vernon 43°64'17"N 90°54'18"W
Voree ("Garden of Peace")[1][2] Adams
Wakefield Outagamie 44°15′56.33″N 88°32′13.52″W
Welch Point Dunn 44°42′10″N 92°00′46″W
Wells[4] Calumet, Manitowoc[4]
Willet Green 42.723337 -89.811676
Williamsburg Trempealeau 44.3138927,-91.4632998
Williamsonville[1] Door Destroyed in the great fire of 1871
Winooski Sheboygan 43°42′25″N 87°59′2″W
Witcome[4] Shawano[4]
Woodworth Kenosha 42.558074, -88.001192 While Woodworth continues as a geographical designator on modern maps, it is today incorporated into the village of Bristol.
Worden Clark
Wrightsville Jackson 44.414448 -90.8536
Zarahemla[2] Lafayette
Ziegler Marathon

Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Guide to the Ghost Towns of Wisconsin". website. Rootsweb. August 7, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Lost Towns of Southern Wisconsin". Wisconsin Public Television. October 28, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d "Kenosha County WI Placenames". website. Rootsweb. September 8, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Ghost Towns -- Wisconsin". website. Ghosttowns.com. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Ghost Towns #2....The Ghostly Trio.... Foscoro, Clay Banks and Horns Pier". Wisconsinology. April 4, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  6. ^ "Ghost Towns #1....Delhi, Wisconsin". Wisconsinology. March 1, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  7. ^ "Pleasant Ridge: A Community of Black Farmers in Wisconsin". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  8. ^ "Pokerville, the vanished village is Dane County's earliest town". newspaper article. Wisconsin State Journal. December 6, 1925. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  9. ^ "Harrington Beach State Park: Master Plan and Environmental Analysis" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  10. ^ "Milwaukee ruins: Pabst Whitefish Resort, Commerce Street & Stonehaven". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved March 20, 2020.

Further reading

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  • Stark, William F. (1977). Ghost Towns of Wisconsin. Sheboygan: Zimmermann Press. OCLC 3564408.
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