Another question

[Ghosttowns.com]

Originally posted by Jennifer Furey


: The reason I've recently gotten interested in this is a result of a book exchange at work in which I managed to pick up a Mother Earth News almanac from the 70s. This book had said that you could get a list of ghost towns from the US (I assume from the Dept. of the Interior). This was in the context of a discussion of how to pick up land cheap or homestead if you're super antisocial. :) I don't know what sort of parameters they'd use, but does anyone know of the availability of such a list? Somehow I doubt the government is as user-friendly as it was in the 70s, but it seems as though if no one here has information regarding ghost towns in mid-Missouri (and given the terrain and history I believe there MUST be some there), there should be a way to ask the gov.



: Thanks,

: Jennifer

[Ghosttowns.com]

Originally posted by John Fillmore


: The government doesn't actually keep lists of ghost towns. The U.S.Geological Survey has a list called GNIS which listed the latitude and longitude of towns (known as PPLs) and in comparing these names with current maps one can often find places that are no longer populated. The laws regarding "homesteading" on public lands have gotten much stricter over the last ten years. At one time it was a simple matter to start a small mining operation, do a little development work annually, and patent (own) the property. The requirements are now much more stringent.

[Ghosttowns.com]

Originally posted by Jennifer Furey


: Thanks. Sounds like a lot of work and expense, though. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that the Missouri map itself has so many little towns on it that no one's ever heard of. I'm just beginning to get into the idea of exploring the state. I realize it does not have ghost towns in the western sense of old gold and silver mines, but the middle of the state is a HUGE lead district and it seems like at least some of those areas should have played by now. I'm also getting interested in old Civilian conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the state. Probably the closest thing we have to ghost towns. You'd think the gov. would have a list of those, but it doesn't. I looked at a web site about scenic drives and Missouri, and that's the only place I came up with ANY info at all.



: Jennifer