I recently came across a great book, Minnesota’s Lost Towns – Northern Edition by Rhonda Fochs. In it she describes 7 different classes of ghost towns as follows:
- Class A – Barren site, nature has reclaimed the land, no visible signs of former habitation.
- Class B – Rubble, foundations, roofless buildings.
- Class C – Standing abandoned buildings, no/rural population, hamlet, no viable organized community.
- Class D – Semi/Near ghost town, many abandoned buildings, small resident population.
- Class E – Busy historic community, smaller than in boom days.
- Class F – Restored town, historically preserved status.
- Class G – Town joined or was absorbed by neighboring/thriving city.
Unfortunately in the book towns are broken down by counties, not by type. I’m not interested in going county by county, I wanted to identify what I thought to be the coolest of the ghost towns and seek them out. So here is a breakdown of all the northern MN ghost towns by classification.
Type A Ghost Towns:
- Arthyde
- Bain
- Grayling
- Rabey
- Shovel Lake
- Solana
- Veteransville
- White Pine
- Westbury
- Farley
- Firman
- Fowlds
- Foy
- Inez
- Quiring
- Shotley
- Forbay
- Iverson
- Cyphers
- Ellis
- Esterdy
- Lothrop
- Mildred
- Tobique
- Wilkinson
- Manitoba Junction
- Muskoda
- Stockwood
- Winnipeg Junction
- Mallard
- Moose/Moose Corners
- Weme
- Mineral Center
- North Cascade
- Parkersville
- Borszak
- Lennox
- Woodrow
- Chippewa
- Spruce Center
- Hereford Village
- Thorsborg
- West Elbow Lake/Canestorp
- Farris
- Graceland
- Cooley
- Brunswick
- Caribou
- Craigville
- Cramer
- Sawbill Landing
- Section 30
- Bankton
- Cedar Spur
- Faunce
- Hiwood
- Duane
- Brickton
- Aitkinsville
- Dixville
- Wheatville
- Balmoral
- Leaf City
- Richdale
- Topelius
- Friesland
- Groningen
- Mission Creek
- Dugdale
- Mallory
- Garnes
- Grit
- Lambert
- Roland
- Wylie
- Duxby
- Fox
- Pelan
- Pinecreek
- Elcor
- Meadow
- Merritt
- Old Mesaba
- Kandota
- Huntersville
- Shell City
Type B Ghost Towns:
- Taconite Harbor
- Forest Center
- Darling
- Granite City
- Gravelville
- Syre
- Erie
Type C Ghost Towns:
- Hassman
- Gull River
- Winsor
- Chippewa City
- Pigeon River
- Barrows
- Manganese
- Belle River
- Aastad Townsite
- Pomme De Terre
- Grass Lake
- Warman
- Enok
- Northcote
- Noyes
- Orleans
- Robbin
- Gemmell
- Illgen City
- Lincoln
- Heinola
- Hillview
- Luce
- Otter Tail City
- Stod
- Mavie
- Dorothy
- Huot
- Terrebonne
- Philbrook
- Blue Grass
- Central
- Oylen
- Tenney
Type D Ghost Towns:
- None listed
Type E Ghost Towns:
- None listed
Type F Ghost Towns:
- Buena Vista
- Chippewa City
- Old Crow Wing
- Spruce Hill
- Rainy Lake City
- Pelan
Type G Ghost Towns:
- Tyler Town
- Chengwatana
- Fortuna
- Spina
In a future post I’ll provide some more details on each town, a link to google maps to provide satellite imagery and any other relevant info I am able to find.