List of ghost towns in North Dakota explained

Several ghost towns have been recorded in North Dakota and are in various states of disrepair; some are mostly intact but have no residents, while others have completely barren or inaccessible sites. Other communities might have a small population but are frequently referred to as a ghost town due to population decline and disrepair.

Classification

Barren site

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

Neglected site

• Only rubble left
• All buildings uninhabited
• Roofless building ruins
• Some buildings or houses still standing

Abandoned site

• Buildings or houses still standing
• Buildings and houses all abandoned
• No population, except caretaker
• Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings

Semi-abandoned site

• Building or houses still standing
• Buildings and houses largely abandoned
• Fewer than 50 residents
• Many abandoned buildings
• Small population

Ghost towns

Name	County	Settled	Abandoned	Status	Notes
Alfred	LaMoure			Semi-abandoned
Amidon	Slope	1910		Semi-abandoned	^[1]
Appam	Williams	1916		Semi-abandoned
Arena	Burleigh	1906	1996	Abandoned
Aurelia	Ward			Abandoned
Baden	Ward			Barren
Beaver Creek	Williams		1955	Barren	Submerged under Lake Sakakawea
Belden	Mountrail	1904		Semi-abandoned
Bentley	Hettinger	1910		Semi-abandoned	^[2] |-|Brisbane|Grant|1906||Barren|^[3] ^[4] |-|Carbury|Bottineau|1901||Abandoned||-|Bucyrus|Adams|1908||Semi-abandoned||-|Charbonneau|McKen-zie||1960|Abandoned|^[5] |-|Charging Eagle|Dunn|| 1955|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea^[6] |-|Cleveland|Stutsman|1882||Semi-abandoned||-|Clyde|Cavalier|1905||Semi-abandoned||-|Dengate|Morton|||||-|Dogtooth|Grant|1876||Barren|^[7] |-|Elbowoods|McLean|1889|1954|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Epworth|Mountrail|||||-|Fort Buford|Williams|1866|1895|Abandoned|U.S. Army fort|-|Freda|Grant|1910||Neglected||-|Gascoyne|Bowman|1911||Semi-abandoned||-|Gorham|Billings||1972|Abandoned||-|Hartland|Ward|1907||||-|Heaton|Wells|1895||Semi-abandoned|^[8] |-|Independence||| 1955|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Kenaston|Ward|||Semi-abandoned||-|Keystone|Dickey|||||-|Kongsberg|McHenry|||Abandoned||-|Leipzig|Grant|1896|1910|Barren||-|Lonetree|Ward|||||-|Lucky Butte||| 1955|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Lynwood|Morton|||Barren||-|McKinney|Renville|||||-|Mose|Griggs|1889|1943|Barren||-|Mt. Carmel||||||-|Nishu||| 1955|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Old Fort Rice|Morton|1864|1878|Abandoned|United States Military fort|-|Old Sanish||1915|1953|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Omemee|Bottineau|1887||Neglected||-|Petrel|Adams|1908||Barren||-|Pierce|Burleigh|| 1970's|Barren|Small community east of Bismarck, but got replaced by Lincoln. It is now reverted to pasture.|-|Red Butte||| 1955|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Roseglen|McLean|||Semi-abandoned||-|Sanger|Oliver|1879|1985|Barren||-|Schafer|McKen-zie|||Neglected|^[9] |-|Schmidt|Morton|||Barren||-|Shell Creek||| 1955|Barren|Submerged under Lake Sakakawea|-|Sherbrooke|Steele|1884|circa 1920|Neglected|Abandoned after the county seat moved from it to Finley, North Dakota, in 1919.|-|Sims|Morton|1883||Semi-abandoned|Sims still has an active church, but nobody lives there anymore^[10] |-|Sully Springs|Billings|||Barren|Railroad town abandoned during the Great Depression^[11] |-|Tagus|Mountrail|1900|2001|Semi-abandoned||-|Temple|Williams|1906||Neglected||-|Temvik|Emmons|1904|2000|||-|Ukraina|Billings|||Neglected|Only two cemeteries left|-|Verendrye|McHenry|1912|1970|Neglected||-|Wabek|Mountrail|||Abandoned|^[12] |-|Watrous|Hettinger|1910||Neglected||-|Wheelock|Williams|1902||Semi-abandoned||-|Whitman|Nelson|||Semi-abandoned||} Further reading Book: Bingham . Katherine Rose . Abandoned Eastern North Dakota: Pure Decay of the Peace Garden State . 2024 . Fonthill Media . 9781634994774. Book: Hargrove . Zachary . Abandoned North Dakota: Weathered by Time . 2019 . Fonthill Media . 9781634991971. Book: Larson . Troy . Ghosts of North Dakota: North Dakota's Ghost Town and Abandoned Places . 2013 . Sonic Tremor Media LLC . 9780989096904. External links Ghosts of North Dakota

Notes and References

1. Book: Speck . Gary B. . Ghost Towns: America's Abandoned Sites and Settlements . 2024 . Publications International . Morton Grove, IL . 978-1-63938-623-9 . 102–105 . The Midwestern States.
2. http://www.solbergfarms.com/NewMilwaukeeTowns.htm New Milwaukee Towns, Mandan [North Dakota&#93; Pioneer 4/8/1910<!-- Bot generated title -->]
3. http://www.solbergfarms.com/BrisbanePOApp1910.htm Brisbane, ND Postal Application 1910
4. http://www.solbergfarms.com/Brisbane.htm Brisbane North Dakota
5. News: Dura . Jack . Memories still remain in Charbonneau . April 17, 2024 . McKenzie County Farmer . November 1, 2016 . limited.
6. News: Dura . Jack . The Story of Elbowoods . April 17, 2024 . . Prairie Public Broadcasting . June 11, 2022.
7. http://www.solbergfarms.com/Dogtooth.htm Where was Dogtooth North Dakota?
8. Web site: Heaton . April 17, 2024 . The Herald-Press.
9. News: The ghost town of Schafer . April 17, 2024 . . October 27, 2015.
10. Web site: 2016-09-11 . Sims, ND . 2024-12-01 . Ghosts of North Dakota . en.
11. News: Hoffbeck . Steve . Sully Springs, A Badlands Ghost Town . April 18, 2024 . . June 10, 2022.
12. News: Davis . Lauren . Hidden History: Preserved Wabek schoolhouse in a "ghost town" . April 17, 2024 . KX News . October 5, 2021.