Ghost Town of the Week: Week of November 9th, 2014: Croft

As previously mentioned, I have been to over 200 Ghost Towns. A majority of these are not true Ghost Towns, as there is usually at least one occupied house on the site. And of many locales that are true Ghost Towns, many of them have little to nothing left, maybe a foundation or two or an old grain elevator and nothing else. Croft is the very rare exception to both of these rules, and that is why I'm writing about the town today.

The Ghost Town of Croft, viewed from the east

Croft is located in the far southwestern corner of Pratt County, a stone's throw from the Red Hills and in a very isolated location, with no towns of any size for 10 miles. Information online tells me the town had a post office that closed in 1961. I can find no other infomation online about the town. The town is labeled as "Croft Station" in my DeLorme Atlas, and most locales that are labeled "Station" in my Atlas are either nothing or a single grain elevator. Not Croft.

A sign still points to the town from US-54, despite the fact no one lives there (from Google Maps).

I visited Croft in July 2013, the final town in a large road trip that also visited the nearby Semi-Ghost town of Coats (another impressive dying town). As mentioned before, the Ghost Town is isolated: about 10 miles west of Coats and 6 miles south of US-54, on which a sign still points to the town! Coming south towards the town, you can first notice two grain elevators. Both look very old and both are surely abandoned. Just as you enter the north side of town, you see this:

This beat-up building may have just been a shed, but look at the boarded up windows on the side. I think this was a school.

There are just two roads in the town. The one running west from the main county road is appropriately labeled "Croft Road". Taking it, you can get a better view of the looming abandoned grain elevators.

Both abandoned grain elevators sit wasting away and covered in overgrowth. I thought this was really cool.

Croft Road loops around both elevators, then straightens out, going southwest and paralleling... nothing? As with so many Ghost Towns, Croft used to be on a railroad, but the tracks have been pulled up leaving nothing but a dirt track.

Standing on Croft Road, you can see the abandoned weigh station in the center of the photo.

The elevators are impressive enough, but the rest of town deserves a look too! Just off Croft Road in the trees is the skeleton of a wooden building.

I apologize for the blurry quality, but in the center of the photo, in the trees, are the ruins of a wooden building.

And just north of the east grain elevator, on the west side of SW 140th Street, is this large foundation.

Note the "For Sale" sign near the foundation. We'll get to that later.

There are two houses left in Croft. Both are on the east side of SW 140th Street, and both look to be in decent shape. Again, I visited shortly before sunset, but there were no lights on in either house, which of course doesn't mean they were both abandoned, but the house on the south side did look like it had been vacant for at least a couple years. Which left the house on the north. I think the sign on the foundation (which was for an auction) may have related to either the east grain elevator (which was in good condition), the house on the north side, or possibly both. I discussed Croft briefly on Facebook, and a Pratt County local told me that an old man lived in the north house and died recently, which would explain the auction. Which also means that NO ONE LIVES IN CROFT. It is a TRUE Ghost Town. And it is the most complete one I have ever visited.

Barely visible in the trees is this ruin. Not sure if it was a house or a business.

Again, Croft is isolated, but not too hard to find. Someone may live in that north house now, so maybe the town's not a True Ghost Town anymore, but I still strongly recommend it for Ghost Town hunters wanting to see a true Ghost Town.