List of ghost towns in Wisconsin

This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Wisconsin.

Classification

Barren site

  • 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

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

Abandoned site

  • 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

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

Historic community

  • 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

Town name   Other names County   Latitude/longitude   Established   Disestablished   Current status Remarks   
Adams Center Adams43°54′58″N 89°47′50″W1964
Adamsville Iowa42°54′26″N 89°54′45″W Birthplace of Alva Adams
Anchorage Buffalo44°16′07″N 91°45′26″W Barren
Apostle Islands[1] Ashland and Bayfield46°55′48″N 90°37′59″WSeptember 26, 1970
Army Lake Walworth42°48′24″N 88°22′31″W
Ashford Richland43°20′48″N 90°28′05″W
Attica[2] Green42°46′12″N 89°28′50″W Now part of the town of Brooklyn.
Aurora KenoshaApril 30, 1891 BarrenSite of one of the area's earliest post offices; now part of the city of Kenosha.
Bagdad Forest45°39′22″N 88°42′13″W Barren
Belmont[1][2] Lafayette40°46'7"N 90°22'49"W18361837 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 CornerKenosha Located "just up the road" from the present community of Bristol.
Bissell Kenosha AbsorbedNow part of the village of Bristol.
Bluff Siding[1][4] Buffalo
Bohri Buffalo44°08′42″N 91°36′10″W
Calhoun Waukesha
Ceresco the Wisconsin PhalanxFond du Lac43°50′55″N 88°51′6″W 18441858 A commune founded by followers of the communitarian socialist ideas of Charles Fourier.
Charter Oak Mills Jackson44°16′07″N 90°52′30″W
Cheyenne Valley Vernon1855c. 1930s [2][5]
Clarence Green42°35′26″N 89°23′54″W
Clason Prairie Dodge
Clay Jackson44°23′46″N 90°40′50″W
Clay Banks[6] Door
Cooksville[1][4] Rock
Coolidge Price45°48'42"N 90°24'29"W
Cortland Trempealeau44°12'50"N 91°34'04"W
Corwin Richland43°30′12″N 90°16′53″W
Cream[1][4] Eagle CreekBuffalo
Crusher[4] Dodge
Cypress[3] HoadleyKenosha There is some confusion as to whether Cypress was a later designator of Pikeville, or geographically distinct.
De Noon Waukesha and Racine
Delhi[7] Winnebago44°01'22"N 88°48'08"W
Dell Prairie Adams43°40'02"N 89°42'55"W
Dellwood[4] Adams
Dill[2] Adams
Dirty Hollow Iowa42°57′48″N 90°7′52″W Today incorporated into the city of Dodgeville.
Dodges Corners Waukesha42°51'32"N 88°14'30"W
Donaldson[4] Vilas
Dover Known variously as Heyworth, Reevesville, East Arena, and Ghorstville prior to 1851Iowa43°9′43″N 89°50′18″W1844ca. 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 Green42°47'06"N 89°43'27"W
Fellows Rock42°44'53"N 89°12'03"W
Fordham Adams43°58'55"N 89°44'20"W
Fort Crawford[1] Crawford
Fort Howard[1] Brown
Foscoro[6] Door
Frenchtown[2] Dane
Good Hope Milwaukee
Granite City Waupaca44°38'02"N 88°59'28"W
Granite Quarry Waupaca44°25'02"N 89°04'04"W
Gratiot's Grove[2] Lafayette
Harmon Washburn46°04′04″N 91°40′06″W
Harrison Calumet44°08′03″N 88°17′30″W
Hatton Waupaca44°15′34″N 88°59′20″W
Helena[1] Old Helena, Helena StationIowa
Henrietta Richland
Horns Pier[6] Door
Jefferson Prairie Settlement Rock42°29'37"N 88°51'48"W
Kaiser Price45°54'35"N 90°33'06"W
Keith Forest45°30′30″N 88°52′58″W
Kennedy Price45.9102815,-90.6662547
Kennedys Corners Sheboygan43°40′28″N 87°52′13″W
Klondike Corner[3] KlondikeKenosha42.590271 -88.134038 Now part of Brighton.
Knowlton[1] Marathon
Knox Mills Price45.5000037,-90.1302873
Kurth Clark44°34′27″N 90°29′48″W
Lake Emily Portage44°28′40″N 89°20′05″W
LaRue[2] Sauk
Lawesburg Outagamie44°15′31.02″N 88°23′00.47″W
Lime Rock Outagamie44°30′03.52″N 88°21′03.77″W
Little Wolf Waupaca44°25′20″N 88°54′05″W
Manson Oneida
Maple Works Clark
Marble Waupaca44°33′45″N 88°52′15″W
Mayhews Walworth42°45′47″N 88°29′24″W
McGrew Richland43.3975039,-90.5013984
Mill Creek Richland43.3866706,-90.5527107
Millville[1] Grant
Minersville Iowa42.963337 -90.133299 Today incorporated into the city of Dodgeville.
Moe Settlement Columbia43°35′55″N 89°41′58″W
Moscow[2] Iowa
Muskego Settlement Racine
Nasbro[4] Dodge
Nelsonville Eau Claire44°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 Trempealeau44.3488927,-91.4498658
New Diggings[2] Lafayette
New Upsala Waukesha
Nowell Waupaca44°29′22″N 88°47′53″W
Oak Grove Eau Claire44°40′21″N 91°36′19″W
Oakwood Milwaukee
Oil City[2] Monroe
Old Tyrone Dunn44°42′50″N 91°50′34″W
Perote Menominee45°05′28″N 88°48′46″W
Petersville Waupaca44°32′18″N 89°11′00″W
Pikeville Corners PikevilleKenosha42.49613 -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 Adams43.9875038,-89.6355651
Pleasant Ridge[2] Grant42°49′52″N 90°48′47″Wc. 18501959 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.[8]
Pokerville[4][9] Dane
Porter's Mills Eau Claire44°46′15″N 91°34′01″W
Quincy Adams
Ranney[4] Kenosha
Raymond Center Racine
Reeds Corners Fond du Lac
Roche a Cri Adams44.0536149,-90.9539387
Rodney Waushara43°59′07″N 89°07′42″W
Rogneys Jackson44.193337 -91.060799
Root Creek Milwaukee
Sacramento[1] Waushara
Savoy Buffalo44.523609 -92.058620
Schultz[2] Green
Selma[3] Sand RidgeKenosha
Sinnipee[2] Grant42°34′31″N 90°39′25″W
Springbluff Adams43.9233371,-91.9189887
Springdale Buffalo44.523609 -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[10][11] Ozaukee43°29'48"N 87°47'41"W19011925 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 Clark44°29′30″N 90°45′46″W
Turtleville[2] Rock
Valley Vernon43°64'17"N 90°54'18"W
Voree ("Garden of Peace")[1][2] Adams
Wakefield Outagamie44°15′56.33″N 88°32′13.52″W
Welch Point Dunn44°42′10″N 92°00′46″W
Wells[4] Calumet, Manitowoc[4]
Willet Green42.723337 -89.811676
Williamsburg Trempealeau44.3138927,-91.4632998
Williamsonville[1] Door Destroyed in the great fire of 1871
Winooski Sheboygan43°42′25″N 87°59′2″W
Witcome[4] Shawano[4]
Woodworth Kenosha42.558074, −88.001192 While Woodworth continues as a geographical designator on modern maps, it is today incorporated into the village of Bristol.
Worden Clark
Wrightsville Jackson44.414448 -90.8536
Zarahemla[2] Lafayette
Ziegler Marathon

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Guide to the Ghost Towns of Wisconsin". freepages.rootsweb.com. January 12, 2001. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Lost Towns of Southern Wisconsin". Wisconsin Public Television. October 28, 2014. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Kenosha County WI Placenames". website. Rootsweb. September 8, 2003. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Ghost Towns – Wisconsin". website. Ghosttowns.com. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Local History Topics: Cheyenne Valley". Vernon County History. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 "Ghost Towns #2....The Ghostly Trio.... Foscoro, Clay Banks and Horns Pier". Wisconsinology. April 4, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Ghost Towns #1....Delhi, Wisconsin". Wisconsinology. March 1, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Pleasant Ridge: A Community of Black Farmers in Wisconsin". Wisconsin Historical Society. February 11, 2013. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Pokerville, the vanished village is Dane County's earliest town". newspaper article. Wisconsin State Journal. December 6, 1925. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Harrington Beach State Park: Master Plan and Environmental Analysis" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Milwaukee ruins: Pabst Whitefish Resort, Commerce Street & Stonehaven". OnMilwaukee.com. April 22, 2014. Retrieved March 20, 2020.

Further reading

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