My 20 favorite Ghost Towns

NOTE: These just cover the areas of Kansas I have visited. The majority of Kansas I have visited is within a two-hour drive of Wichita. I have not gotten to far western, northeastern or southeastern Kansas.

Through 10 years, 59 road trips and close to 500 towns visited, with so many of them being Ghost Towns, it's very difficult to narrow down to my personal favorites. These 20 towns all had something that just sticks in my mind, or they hold an important place in my road-tripping life. All 20 towns are must-visits. NOTE: Generally, towns officially became "Ghost Towns" when their post offices closed, but this is not always the case
#20: Keighley
County: Butler
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: At most 20
Visited: 2009, 2014
Info: Post office closed in 1943
Keighley is unique for more reasons than one. First, it has a Rural Water District (RWD) watertower on the west edge of "town" but if you drive west past the watertower, on the other side it says "KEIGHLEY"! The former town has been reduced to a handful of houses spread out over a good 100 acres, as well as an old school and the "Keighley Barn" a convenience store that operated when US 400 ran right next to it, and apparently still operates today even though the highway has been moved 100 feet south. But I find it unique that a virtually dead town still has its own watertower, still proudly displaying the town's name on it (on one side at least). The town's old main street still exists, although the buildings are gone except for one newer house. There is one visible foundation amidst a lot of overgrowth. The old school sits about a quarter mile south of this old main street along old Highway 400. It's in decent shape but appears to be unused. The town apparently used to be a tiny hamlet until the oil boom of the 1920s, then quickly grew into a roaring town of a few hundred people before quickly dying in the 1940s. It's an interesting Ghost that should be visited.
#19: Gem
County: Thomas
Classification: Semi-Ghost
Population: 88 (2010 census)
Visited: 2014
Info: Post office closed very recently, in March 2013 or 2014
Gem was visited in December 2014 on "Joel's Trip" to Rexford, which is just a few miles away from Gem. The town is notable for having possibly the most impressive abandoned school I have ever seen on my road trips. It can be seen for miles as you're approaching the town on US-83. Nearly every window is broken, and you can see right through the building in several places. The building now sits on private property and is fenced off, but you can still get very close to it. The rest of town is good too; two abandoned churches sit just a couple blocks from each other on Main Street, and the town's downtown, while mostly gone, has several abandoned buildings. But the town is definitely worth visiting just for the school alone.
#18: Sitka
County: Clark
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: 3
Visited: 2007, 2013
Info: Post office closed in 1964, town once had 300 people
Online research has confirmed that Sitka has a population... of three. They all live in one house. This Ghost is one that must be looked at closely to realize how great of one it is. Few vacant buildings are left standing (there are four at last check; two houses and the old restaurant, as well as one in a field that's partially collapsed), but the remnants of sidewalks, foundations, collapsed houses, trees where buildings were, and even dirt tracks that were streets are still visible in this dead town. Unfortunately, crane your neck (and zoom your camera) from US 183 or the parking lot of the former restaurant, because most of the town is on private property. However, you should definitely still pay a visit.
#17: Gerlane
County: Barber
Classification: True Ghost
Population: 0
Visited: 2013
Info: Had a recorded population of 10 in 1940, post office closed in 1943
Gerlane is an impressive True Ghost south of Medicine Lodge. A dilapidated shed greets you to the Ghost from the east, but if you continue west you find a track that appears to have been an old city street. A couple sheds sit in empty lots, and you can see a few asphalt remains. Further north an old bridge connects another track to land to the north. I believe this used to be an oil town, and there were a few houses and oil wells where today nothing remains but empty lots and ruins. Still, a very cool ghost and one that deserves the Top 20.
#16: Adamsville
County: Sumner
Classification: True Ghost
Population: 0
Visited: 2005
Info: Town was not even established until the 1920s. A post office ran for 6 years, from 1925 to 1931.
Adamsville was the first ever True Ghost town I documented in my road trips. It was very impressive: An old tin elevator and it's office sat about 100 feet back from the road, rusted and abandoned. A whire circle, possibly from an old can of paint, surrounded the top window of the elevator. An old wooden building, thickly hidden behind overgrowth yet right next to the road, also sat falling apart. This might've been a school. Further east sat two houses, a ways back from the road and also hidden in overgrowth. This was a very cool little Ghost, but not even my favorite in the county, as you will see later.
#15: Antelope
County: Marion
Classification:Near-Ghost
Population: At most 10
Visited: 2004, 2013
Info: Post office closed surprisingly recently, in 1988
Antelope was first visited in early evening on the failed "video camera experiment" trip in 2004. Fortunately, I did snap a few pictures. I returned in November 2013 for a more thorough picture taking and that's when I decided to put this town in my Top 20. Just 3 or so houses are occupied in this town that lies all on one road, next to the railroad. An old tin elevator (there used to be 2) and a number of grain bins sit wasting away on the north side. But the signature building in the town is the old Nienstedt store. Still with its sign on the front, the building, which has obviously been vacant for decades but appears to be taken care of, sits alone on the corner. A picture I took of it is my cover photo on Flickr and has gotten praise from several people. One other vacant business sits further west, and that's about it for this little hamlet. The old store is the primary reason why this is in my Top 20.
#14: Clements
County: Chase
Classifcation: Near-Ghost
Population: Less than 5
Visited: 2007
Info: Post office closed in 1988
Clements is a very impressive Ghost Town, complete with an empty city block lined with house ruins and an old store in the former downtown that sits alone. The building is in decent shape, but obviously abandoned. One occupied farmhouse sits on the east edge of town heading out towards the Cottonwood river. About 1000 feet southeast of town lies the old Clements Stone Bridge, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the Ghost Town itself is one ghost town hunters should surely visit!
#13: Croft
County: Pratt
Classification: True Ghost
Population: 0
Visited: 2013
Info: Post office closed in 1961
To date, Croft is the most complete True Ghost I have ever visited. There is still a sign to the town off of US 54, but coming into town you can tell that it's completely ghostly. An old school sits just off the road on the far north edge of town. There are just two roads: Croft Road and the north-south numbered road. Two grain elevators and their weigh stations, all abandoned, sit looming over a railroad that has long-since been abandoned & the tracks pulled up. In between the school and the elevators sit two houses, one with a bunch of junk in the front yard, and several ruins and foundations. Both houses appear to be unoccupied, and after posing the question on Facebook in 2013, a Pratt County local said he believes the last resident left or died about a year prior. This is a must-visit for any ghost town hunter wanting to see a real, true Ghost Town.
#12: Wonsevu
County: Chase
Classification: True Ghost
Population: 0
Visited: 2011
Info: Post office closed in 1907, last resident moved out in 2000
Visited on road trip #39 in 2011, this town is still fresh in my memory. And what a memory it is. The entire town lies on two roads. Coming in from the north, you pass an old school on the east side of the road and what appears to be an old baseball field on the west. At the intersection, on the south side about 50 feet west is an abandoned church and directly south is a small building that could have been a house or just a shed. Just further east is a thick growth of trees where a foundation is visible, and about 100 feet further east is  single vacant house. On the north side of the road are the ruins of a second house. Information online tells me the last resident left/died in 2000. This is one of the most complete True Ghosts I have ever visited.

#11: Diamond Springs
County: Morris
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: At most 10
Visited: 2007
Info: Post office closed in 1930
Diamond Springs has historically been considered one of the best ghost towns in all of Kansas, with its associations to the Santa Fe Trail and the stunning age of the ruins in town, with the three old stone buildings rumored to be 140 years old. For extensiveness, Diamond Springs is not that impressive, because these 3 stone buildings are all that's left. The cemetary sits about a half-mile north, and there are a handful of houses in the town area. The impressive remains of the old stone buildings are what gives this town the ranking of #10 on my Favorite Ghost Towns list.

#10: Teterville
County: Greenwood
Classification: True Ghost                      
Population: 0
Visited: 2006
Info: Post office closed in 1962, town only existed for 40 years as an oil town, town once had over 600 people
Teterville has no buildings. A very old black-and-white sign points you off the main road to a beat-up gravel path that passes by a rusty oil tank and two foundations. So why is this town #10? The path ends at a 20-foot high stone pillar named Teter Rock that sits atop a hill where you can see for ten miles in any direction in the Flint Hills. Teterville was apparently founded in the 1920s as an oil boomtown and quickly abandoned in the 1960s when the oil began to run out. The rock was planted during the town's heyday and left behind as the town became a Ghost. I consider it the most scenic sight I've ever seen on my road trips.

#9: Drury
County: Sumner
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: Approx. 20
Visited: 2005, 2009
Info: Post office closed in 1921
Drury was visited on two separate road trips: first in 2005 in the "Vivitar Era" and second in 2009. Just west of town is a vacant motel covered in vines and other overgrowth. The old sign is still visible on the building. Along the Chicaskia river, which passes immediately west of town, three large concrete pillars, formerly a railroad bridge, rise out of the river about 200 feet north of the road. Along this same road lie four different vacant business buildings, all of them looking as if they had been vacant for 50 years. Along the only street that bisects the main road sits an old school with an old-fashioned merry-go-round sitting in the yard. This street ends at the old railroad, where an old tin elevator sits rusting away. North of the main road sits mostly grass, with a few trees sticking out. The grass is mowed, giving it the appearance of a park. A cul-de-sac of sorts goes west from the side-street, and three occupied houses sit here. One or two more sit on the main road. Despite little photographic evidence of this town it is still one of my all-time favorites.

#8: Lerado
County: Reno
Classification: Near-Ghost          
Population: 5 at most
Visited: 2006, 2009
Info: Post office closed in 1904
Lerado is a rare example of a town whose status was greatly strengthened after the second visit. On the first visit in January 2006, the only thing I paid attention to was the church. But on the revisit in 2009, Lerado became one of my favorite Ghosts of all time. Approaching from the south, one of the first things you see is a huge brick general store, still intact but looking like it hasn't been in use in 50 years. Hidden in the trees next to the store are the ruins of another building. Across the road is a solitary house: a second one is on the north edge of "town" near the cemetary. Right at the intersection, ruins of two buildings are visible in the trees. An old schoolbuilding-turned-community building still sits in good shape. The old town is full of history and is one of my favorites.

#7: Englewood
County: Clark
Classification: Semi-Ghost
Population: 77 (2010 census)
Visited: 2013
Info: Post office is still open but is in danger of closing, town once had 2,000 people
Englewood once had 2,000 people in its heyday around the turn of the century. Today it has about 4% of that number. The downtown is completely abandoned, and 5 buildings in various states of collapse sit rotting away on the old main street. The only businesses left are a grain elevator, a post office, and some gas pumps on the south side of town. Large, wide open empty lots, some holding vacant buildings, most not, sit all over the expansive town, which covers about a square mile but only has 80 people. A must-visit for any ghost town hunter.

#6: Freeport
County: Harper
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: 5 (2010 census)
Visited: 2006
Info: Post office is still open but is in danger of closing, town has been the smallest incorporated town in Kansas for 30 years
Freeport is famous for being the smallest incorporated town in the state of Kansas, with a population of 5 in the 2010 census (it could possibly be even lower today, as every resident is over the age of 50). For it's size, the town covers a wide area. Most of the old lots have been replaced by farmland, but several buildings still remain. Among them: A corner brick building containing the town's post office (west), bank (corner) and a vacant store (north). As far as I know the bank has closed recently, the branches in Harper & Anthony are still open. Other buildings in the town's expansive area includes an operating grain elevator and church, a "stick" watertower, three occupied houses, an old school building still in decent shape, a vacant grain elevator near the operating one, and approximately four vacant houses in various states of ruin. The town is full of history and is a good town for ghost town hunters.

#5: Wellsford
County: Kiowa
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: At most 10
Visited: 2010
Info: Post office closed in 1955, town briefly held the title of smallest incorporated town in Kansas, with a 1970 census population of 9, town was unincorporated in 1975
This town is perhaps the most expansive ghost town I have ever seen. The town is large enough to support at least 200 people, yet these many city blocks are filled with overgrowth and countless foundations and ruins. No visible downtown remains, however the shell of one building that looks like it was a business sits on the north side of town. Thick trees cover the vacant lots, and numerous foundations and ruins are visible from the streets. A small wooden church sitting out in a wheat field is still in use, and the "Wellsford Flea Market" apparently is as well, but otherwise, other then the rare occupied house, this town is totally dead. This town gets little coverage when good Kansas Ghost Towns are mentioned, but I recommend exploring this one.

#4: Hitschmann
County: Barton
Classification: (likely) True Ghost
Population: (likely) 0
Visited: 2014
Info: School closed mid-1960s, cannot find any info on a post office, not even from KS Historical Society! Unknown if one house closest to the elevator is occupied, otherwise every house in town is abandoned
That's right, this town is (by a mile) the most extensive True Ghost I have ever visited. The entire town occupies just one large rectangular block, with the grain elevator, the only building still operating in the town, just off to the north and west. There is no sign of a former downtown area, and due to the fact that the town sits in oil country, plus the school looks like it was built in the 1930s or 1940s, I'm going to say this town probably never was much more than a collection of houses, a store or two, and the school that sprang up in the 1920s (or later) during an oil boom. The town probably gradually declined from 50 or so people to zero from the 1960s to present. But what's surprising is that hardly anything has been torn down; the town is surprisingly intact given how long most of the houses look like they've been abandoned. An old gas station, looking like a strong wind could blow it over, sits on the southeast side, with an old gas pump still in front. VISIT THIS TOWN, if you want to see a Ghost Town like they depict in the movies. You don't ever see those in Kansas, but this one pretty closely fits the bill.

#3: Manchester
County: Dickinson
Classification: Semi-Ghost
Population: 95 (2010 census)
Visited: 2014
Info: Despite sizable population, the post office closed in 1993
Manchester's downtown looks like something straight out of a movie. About 10 buildings, lining both sides of Main Street for two blocks and all abandoned, sit in disrepair. Some are two stories and look like they were fine buildings at one time. Now, they all sit abandoned. The rest of the town is very impressive too, with numerous abandoned houses and empty lots. There are almost no businesses in this little community, just a rural fire station and a watertower. This town doesn't even have a post office! The downtown alone makes this a must-visit for a ghost-town hunter wanting to see something that really looks like a ghost town!

#2: Elgin
County: Chautauqua
Classification: Semi-Ghost
Population: 89 (2010 census)
Info: Post office closed in 1976, town once had over 1,000 people and still had 500 as late as 1930
Elgin, being incorporated, is large enough to be classified as a Very Small Town. But that would just do the old town injustice. The town sits virtually on the Oklahoma line in southern Chautauqua county. Passing through town on the main road, you might see several empty lots and a few vacant houses, but nothing standout-impressive. Go into town, and if you're a true ghost-town hunter, your jaw will drop. The sheer, stunning amount of vacant buildings and ruins visible in town is larger than I had ever seen before. No less than 7 vacant business buildings sit rotting away on a very wide brick Main Street. Some buildings have lost their roofs, some look in fairly reasonable shape, but all have weathered the ravages of time. Just west of downtown a huge watertower sits rusting away, apparently unused for decades. Most of the occupied houses sit on the road into town from Oklahoma (the southernmost street in town IS the Oklahoma border). Numerous vacant houses and ruins dot the empty blocks, and empty brick streets with grass growing out of them cover town. The only businesses that remain occupied are the city hall, a community building, and a couple churches. A must-see town for any ghost town hunter.

#1: Saffordville
County: Chase
Classification: Near-Ghost
Population: 5 or less
Visited: 2007, 2013
Info: Town was the subject of the paper I wrote for my history class that helped get me the Chapman Center internship, post office closed in 1957, town had a population of nearly 200 when it was destroyed by 1951 flood, population declined to less than 20 after the flood
What else would be #1? I WROTE about this town in my history class! Without this town, I might not have gotten my internship. Compared to Elgin, Saffordville has quite a lot less in the way of vacant buildings. However, the expansiveness of the ghost town is just incredible. City blocks are still driveable, however the streets have been reduced to strips of grass. Supposedly, the town had a population of 200 before it was flooded in the disastrous 1951 floods. Most of the displaced residents never came back, and the town today is almost completely dead. No one lives off the main road, so the eerie feeling of going down these totally empty streets is almost surreal. Coming into town on old Highway 50, first you pass a rusting away old tin elevator and a few other rusty buildings. After crossing the tracks, the first thing you come upon is a dead-end dirt street, turn left on it, and the first thing you see to your left is the shell of a big stone business building. Just the walls remain intact, and trees are growing out of the building. A few hundred feet further east, you see the ruins of a house. Continue on the main road and you see one of the "grass strip" streets. Take it a block west and you see pieces of old sidewalk plus a few more ruins sticking out of the trees. Continue further south on the main road and you pass by empty lots filled with bricks and pieces of concrete. At the south edge of town sit two occupied houses and a huge school building, still in great condition. That's the only sign of life in this ghost town.
Update: As of 2013, sadly, the old city streets have become private property and are no longer accessible without permission.

A description of my "8 categories of towns"

Over my 10+ years of taking road trips and visiting towns of all sizes in Kansas, I have recently divided these towns into 8 categories: Big City, City, Small Town, Very Small Town, Semi-Ghost, Near-Ghost, True Ghost, and Total Ghost. Each category of town is defined by population and incorporation status, but the line separating these categories is a lot fuzzier than just population. Here's my 8 categories by description.

Big City (BC): Population: 5,000+
As a small town/ghost town hunter, Big Cities serve little purpose other than maybe to find a place to eat, get gas, or stay the night. Visiting one of these towns on a road trip, I might snap a quick picture of downtown & maybe one or two others, but because these towns generally don't have anything that appeals to ghost town hunters, their priority list for me is at the bottom. Examples: Newton, Salina, McPherson

City (C): Population: 1,000 - 5,000
Cities, again, are primarily for finding a place to eat or get gas. However, I might snap a few pictures in downtown & do a little more searching than in a Big City, especially when these towns are county seats in counties that have a lot of ghost towns. Examples: Marion, Belle Plaine, Herington

Small Town (ST): Population: 250 - 1,000
Small Towns are the largest Towns that I will actually spend some time in looking for old historical buildings. Some of these towns can have vacant buildings, but generally these towns are full of occupied structures that have historical value (example, buildings on the National Register of Historic Places). Cool-looking business buildings and churches are targets in these towns. Examples: South Haven, White City, Galva

Very Small Town (VST): Population 100 - 250
Very Small Towns are the smallest towns that don't begin to creep into the Ghosts categories. And some of these towns may look quite ghostly. Unlike Ghosts, these towns still have a sense of infrastructure (for example, a post office, a bank, a restaurant, a few churches). Many of these towns are gems and have a lot of vacant buildings and empty lots, but don't quite yet take on the appearance of a ghost town. Examples: Preston, Viola, Ramona

Semi-Ghost (SG): Population 25 - 100
This is the broadest category of towns with the fuzziest lines separating the categories next to it. Generally, a semi-ghost town is one where there's faint vestiges of an infrastructure left, but the town has basically become a collection of houses. What's in these towns varies widely: Some are expansive, with many empty lots and a scattered collection of houses; some occupied, some not. Some may be all on one or two roads, with little abandoned structures or foundations to be seen anywhere. Some may have a few businesses, some may only have a church. Some have old, dilapidated buildings and sidewalk remnants characteristic of a ghost town, and some may be very tidy and resemble a small village. Examples: Parkerville, Cedar Point, Castleton

Near-Ghost (NG): Population 1 - 25
Perhaps my favorite category of towns, Near-Ghosts can vary widely, from a spectacular ghost town filled with dilapidated structures, foundations, and old sidewalks, to a solitary occupied farmhouse sitting across the street from a vacant building and a foundation. Many of these towns would be considered real ghost towns from common people, but the only requirement is that there be at least one occupied house inside the town area, thereby preventing it from becoming an "actual" ghost town with no people. Most of my favorite ghost towns are near-ghosts.
Some near-ghosts are referred to as "doubles" or "triples" because there are only 2 or 3 buildings in town and nothing else. These are not very noteworthy locations.
Examples: Lerado, Saffordville, Wellsford, Buttermilk (triple)

True Ghost (TG): Population: 0
Surprisingly, True Ghost towns are a little rare to find in Kansas, because there's almost always someone living on the site of the town. True Ghosts differentiate from Total Ghosts in that there are substantial enough remains to warrant this designation, whereas Total Ghosts usually have nothing or very, very little remaining.
Examples: Basil, Adamsville, Wonsevu, Croft

Total Ghost (GT): Population: 0... Remnants: Very little to none
The "GT" stands for "Ghost Town" because that's what these are. Most Total Ghosts have been vacant for so long that there are no remains, in some cases there may be a solitary foundation or a couple trees, but many Total Ghosts have so little left that a good picture isn't even available.
Examples, Alameda (Kingman Co.), Mingona (Barber), Stubbs (Barber), Cameron (Cowley), Bedford (Stafford), Vera (Wabaunsee)

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I'm not going to do a Ghost Town of the Week this week, as I am trying to maintain my quickly growing Facebook page! Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kansas-Ghost-Town-Hunter/314980155786