List of ghost towns in Illinois facts for kids

A ghost town is a place where people used to live and work, but now it's mostly empty. Imagine a town where houses are falling apart, and streets are quiet, with no one around. That's a ghost town!

Illinois has many of these forgotten places. They became ghost towns for different reasons. Sometimes, the mines closed, or the railroad tracks moved. Other times, people just packed up and left to find new opportunities. This list explores some of these interesting, quiet towns in Illinois.

What Makes a Town a Ghost Town?

A town becomes a ghost town when most of its people move away. This can happen for many reasons:

• Resources run out: If a town grew because of a mine or a factory, it might disappear when the resource is gone or the factory closes.
• New transportation: When new roads or railroads were built, they sometimes bypassed older towns. This made it hard for businesses to get supplies or sell goods.
• Natural disasters: Floods, fires, or other disasters could force everyone to leave.
• Economic changes: Sometimes, farming or other industries changed, and people had to move to find work elsewhere.

These towns are like snapshots of history, showing us how life used to be in Illinois.

Exploring Illinois's Ghost Towns

Here is a list of some ghost towns in Illinois. Many of them are just names on old maps now, but they each have a story of a time when they were busy places.

• Anderson (Macoupin County)
• Appleton (Knox County)
• Barr (Macoupin County)
• Benjaminville (McLean County)
• Bethel (Clay County)
• Bloomfield (Edgar County)
• Bourbonais (Bureau County)
• Brownsville (Jackson County)
• Brush Point (DeKalb County)
• Bybee (Fulton County)
• Caledonia (Putnam County)
• Cardiff (Livingston County)
• Cayuga (Livingston County)
• Challacombe (Macoupin County)
• Chamness (Williamson County)
• Civer (Fulton County)
• Clayville (Sangamon County)
• Clifford (Williamson County)
• Coltonville (DeKalb County)
• Comer (Macoupin County)
• Crawfordsville (Crawford County)
• Daggett (Carroll County)
• Dutton (Pike County)
• Elm Point (Bond County)
• Elton (Winnebago County)
• Enos (Macoupin County)
• Evans (Logan County)
• Fillmore (Douglas County)
• Fremont (Clinton County)
• Green Rock (Henry County) - This town is now a neighborhood within Colona.
• Greenridge (Macoupin County)
• Griffin (Clark County)
• Griggsville Landing (Pike County) - Also known as Phillips Landing or Phillips Ferry.
• Gurney (Cass County)
• Hagaman (Macoupin County)
• Half Day (Lake County) - This area was later joined with Vernon Hills.
• Halfway (Williamson County) - Not to be confused with the other Halfway, also known as Little Juarez.
• Halfway (Williamson County) - This one is nicknamed Little Juarez.
• Henpeck (Kane County)
• Horace (Edgar County)
• Jugtown (Grundy County) - This area is now part of the Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area.
• Kumler (McLean County)
• Ledford (Saline County)
• Lemmon (Sangamon County)
• Lexington (Edwards County)
• Little Rock (LaSalle County)
• Macoupin (Macoupin County)
• McVey (Macoupin County)
• Midway (Fulton County)
• Miles Station (Macoupin County) - Also known as Providence.
• Mills Prairie (Edwards County)
• Millsdale (Will County)
• Millville (Jo Daviess County)
• Milton (Brown County)
• Morse (Stark County)
• Ocoya (Livingston County)
• Old Evansville
• Old Westville
• Orchard Place (Cook County)
• Oxford Township (Henry County) - Also known simply as Oxford.
• Palmyra (Edwards County)
• Papsville
• Parker City (Johnson County) - Also known as Parker.
• Piankashawtown (Edwards County)
• Reader (Macoupin County) - Also known as Reeders.
• Reeds Crossing (Boone County)
• Riverview
• Rodden (Jo Daviess County)
• Santa Fe Park
• Schoper (Macoupin County)
• Shasta (Alexander County)
• Shirley (McLean County)
• Sugarville (Fulton County)
• Sylvan (Cass County)
• Tacaogane (Massac County or Pope County)
• Tedens (DuPage County)
• Totten Prairie (Fulton County) - Also known as Totten’s Prairie.
• Tracy (Kankakee County)
• Tuscumbia (Fulton County)
• Vishnu Springs (McDonough County)
• Wanborough (Edwards County)
• Weston (DuPage County)
• Wetzel (Edgar County)
• Whistleville (Macon County) - This site is now the Fort Daniel Conservation Area.
• White Oak Springs (Brown County)
• Wilson (Lake County)