List of ghost towns in Georgia (U.S. state)
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The following is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Georgia. Ghost towns can include sites in various states of disrepair and abandonment. Some sites no longer have any trace of civilization and have reverted to pasture land or empty fields. Other sites are unpopulated but still have standing buildings. Some sites may even have a sizable, though small population, but there are far fewer citizens than in its grander historic past.
Classification
[edit]
Barren site
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Only rubble left
- Roofless building ruins
- Buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless
Abandoned site
[edit]- 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
[edit]- Building or houses still standing
- Buildings and houses largely abandoned
- Few residents
- Many abandoned buildings
- Small population
New Echota has been preserved as a museum
Historic community
[edit]- Building or houses still standing
- Still a busy community
- Smaller than its boom years
- Population has decreased dramatically, to one fifth or less.
List
[edit]| Name | County | Other names | Location | Settled | Abandoned | Current status | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agnes | Lincoln | 1889 | 1955[1] | A small Hamlet located away from waterways or railroads.[2] | |||
| Allatoona | Bartow | Lake Allatoona | 1838[3] | 1949[4] | Submerged | Flooded in the mid-1940s to create Lake Allatoona, today a recreational spot. In the 1980s, low water levels allowed remnants of the town to be visible from the water.[4] | |
| Allon | Crawford | early 1800s | An industry town for the Atlanta Sand & Supply Company.[5] | ||||
| Apalachee | Morgan | Florence | 1889 | 1995 | Abandoned | One of the earliest settlements in Morgan County.[6] | |
| Apollo | Putnam | appeared on maps as late as 1955.[7] | |||||
| Argo | Fannin | ||||||
| Armstrong | Wilkes | ||||||
| Auraria | Lumpkin | Dean, Deans, Nuckollsville, Scuffle Town | settled during the Georgia Gold Rush but declined after the California Gold Rush and Colorado Gold Rush. | ||||
| Barnett Shoals | Oconee | 1995 | a mill town dissolved in 1995.[8] | ||||
| Beech Hill | Wilkinson | ||||||
| Belle Vista | Glynn | ||||||
| Bender | Laurens | ||||||
| Bethany | Baker | Neglected | Contains the collapsing remains of many buildings and stores.[9] | ||||
| Bingham | Jeff Davis | ||||||
| Birdford | Tattnall | ||||||
| Bladen | Glynn | ||||||
| Blountsville | Jones | heavily damaged by the Civil War and never recovered.[10] | |||||
| Brasstown | Towns | former Cherokee village.[11] | |||||
| Broomtown | Chattooga | ||||||
| Burnt Fort | Camden | ||||||
| Burton | Rabun | 1919 | Submerged | flooded to create Lake Burton in 1919.[12] | |||
| Ceylon | Camden | ||||||
| Cement | Bartow | 2 miles north of Kingston | Abandoned | ||||
| Centerville | Charlton | ||||||
| Cheevertown | Baker | 1882[13] | |||||
| Christopher | Chattahoochee | ||||||
| Cole City | Dade | Cole | 1995 | a settlement founded near the mouth of the Dade Coal Company coal mine.[14][15] | |||
| Colerain | Camden | ||||||
| Conasauga | Gilmer | a Cherokee settlement that was overtaken by European-Americans and later abandoned for larger towns.[16] | |||||
| Constitution | DeKalb | 1952 | Absorbed | absorbed into Atlanta in 1952. | |||
| Corinth | Sumter County | 12 miles east of Americus | |||||
| Clyde | Bryan | Formerly the county seat of Bryan County.[17] | |||||
| Dewsville | Baker | ||||||
| Doctortown | Wayne | ||||||
| Due | Fannin | ||||||
| Ebenezer | Effingham | Semi-abandoned | Today, the Jerusalem Lutheran Church is the only building in use. | ||||
| Eelbeck | Chattahoochee | An old Cherokee settlement | |||||
| Etowah | Floyd | ||||||
| Fairview | Chattooga | ||||||
| Floydtown | Miller | ||||||
| Ford | Bartow | ||||||
| Fowlstown | Decatur | settled and abandoned twice. | |||||
| Franklinville | Lowndes | ||||||
| Gaillard | Crawford | 1951 | A railroad community that died after the closure of the rail line.[5] | ||||
| Gerber | Walker | ||||||
| Grantville | Greene | ||||||
| Greenbush | Walker | ||||||
| Grisworldville | Jones | Largely destroyed in 1864 during the American Civil War.[18] | |||||
| High Falls | Monroe County | High Falls State Park contains the abandoned industrial town of High Falls.[19] | |||||
| Huguenot | Elbert | ||||||
| Hardwicke | Bryan | 1754 | |||||
| Jacksonboro | Screven | Abandoned/historic | Houses the historic Seaborn Goodall House.[20] | ||||
| Jamestown | Chattahoochee | ||||||
| Johntown | Dawson | ||||||
| Kite | Johnson | Abandoned, Decaying Downtown/Very low population | |||||
| Knoxville | Crawford | Semi-abandoned | Population decreased as the railroads extended.[5] | ||||
| Lang | Carroll | ||||||
| Laingkat | Decatur | Land Cat | |||||
| Ligon | Bartow | ||||||
| Livingston | Floyd | ||||||
| Mimsville | Baker | ca. 1880[21] | 1914[21] | ||||
| New Bridge | Lumpkin | ||||||
| New Echota | Gordon | 1830s | Historic | The capital city of the Cherokee Nation until their forced removal in the 1830s. | |||
| New Savannah | Augusta-Richmond | ca. 1740 | A former Chickasaw settlement which became a tobacco town, waning with the tobacco industry in the early 19th century. | ||||
| Oketeyeconne | Clay | Submerged | A former unincorporated town along the Chattahoochee River that was flooded to create Walter F. George Lake.[22] | ||||
| Olympia | Lowndes | ||||||
| Oscarville | Forsyth | 1912 | Submerged | Flooded during the formation of Lake Lanier. In 1912, it was the site of a lynching which prompted the removal of all black residents.[23] | |||
| Owensbyville | Heard | ||||||
| Petersburg | Elbert | a tobacco town that was the third largest city in Georgia between 1800 and 1810.[24] | |||||
| Recovery | Decatur | ||||||
| Roanoke | Stewart | 1836 | Raided by Creek Indians in 1836 and never rebuilt.[25] | ||||
| Rollo | Crawford | early 1800s | An industry town for the Atlanta Sand & Supply Company.[5] | ||||
| San Barnard | Worth | the county seat in the 1850s.[26] | |||||
| Scull Shoals | Greene | Originally settled in the early 19th century to use the rapids to power watermills. By the 1880s, erosion upstream had halted this industry.[27] | |||||
| Shackelton | Chattooga | 1909 | 1920s | Mining community formed in 1909 and abandoned after the mines closed in the 1920s.[28] | |||
| Socrates | Monroe County | ||||||
| Starkville | Lee | 1995 | A cemetery remains at the site.[29] | ||||
| Sunbury | Liberty | 1864 | lost much of its population to natural disaster and trading competition by the mid 19th century. In 1864, the remaining town was destroyed during Sherman's March to the Sea. | ||||
| Sweden | Pickens | ||||||
| Tarver | Echols | ||||||
| Tatum | Dade | ||||||
| Taylors Creek | Liberty | 1940s | Evicted | evacuated in the 1940s to make room for a military installation.[30] | |||
| Thalmann | Glynn | In 1979, a train stop in Thalmann was rerouted through Jesup,[31] causing the community to decline. | |||||
| Trader's Hill | Charlton | The first county seat in Charlton County.[32] | |||||
| Treat | Haralson (located partially in Polk County)[33] | ||||||
| Troupville | Lowndes | c. 1900 | largely abandoned by the end of the 19th century, after railroad traffic in nearby Valdosta drew away most of the town's residents.[34] | ||||
| Visage | Towns | ||||||
| Walnut | Lumpkin | ||||||
| Warsaw | McIntosh | ||||||
| Westlake | Twiggs | ||||||
| Willie | Liberty | 1940s | Evicted | evacuated in the 1940s to make room for a military installation.[35] | |||
| Wisdoms Store | Harris | ||||||
| Woodstown | Henry | ||||||
| Wynns Mill | Henry | ||||||
| Youngcane | Union | ||||||
| Zirkle | Pierce | 1926 | Died out following the closure of the sawmill in 1926.[36] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Lincoln County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
- ^ Candler, Allen Daniel; Evans, Clement Anselm (1906). Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons. State historical association. p. 29.
- ^ "Allatoona – Etowah Valley Historical Society". Retrieved May 2, 2019.
- ^ a b winecoff (March 14, 2013). "History Of Allatoona Lake". Lake Allatoona Association. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Q&A with Victoria Simmons author of "Vanished Towns Revisited: Crawford County and Byron, Georgia"". The Telegraph. May 28, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ "Apalachee Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ "Putnam County, 1955". Rand McNally Map of Georgia, 1955. GeorgiaInfo. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 14. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ Baker County Historical Society (1991). The History of Baker County. Newton, Baker County, Georgia, USA: Baker County Historical Society. pp. 54–69. LCCN 92080765.
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 21. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Brasstown (historical)
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Burton (historical)
- ^ "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Georgia. J. Johnston. 1873. p. 127.
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Conasauga (historical)
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ "Griswoldville". American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 108. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ "The Goodall House". GA Historical Society. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ a b "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
- ^ "Oketeyeconne, Georgia GA Community". Georgia Hometown Locator. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
- ^ "The truth behind Oscarville and the violent removal of Black residents from Forsyth County years before Lake Lanier was built".
- ^ (Jones Jr. 1878:233-239)
- ^ Sherwood, Adiel (1837). A Gazetteer of the State of Georgia. P. Force. p. 219.
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 197. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ Coulter, E Merton (March 1964). "Scull Shoals: An Extinct Georgia Manufacturing and Farming Community". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 48 (1): 33–63. ISSN 0016-8297.
- ^ "Chattooga County". Calhoun Times. September 1, 2004. p. 38. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
- ^ Gosa, John. "Former Lee County seat now ghost town". Retrieved November 15, 2017.
- ^ "Fort Stewart". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ Thalmann, Georgia Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 230. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Treat (historical)
- ^ "Letter From Valdosta". Savannah Morning News. Savannah, Georgia. May 5, 1874.
- ^ "The town of Willie, Georgia. It is in the Hinesville Army camp area and is being evacuated". Library of Congress. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 261. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.