Though perhaps only remnants and scattered memories remain, we’ve selected a handful of nearby ghost towns whose heritages inspire curiosity. In “Ghost Towns of Kansas,” published as a traveler’s guide in two volumes in 19, he estimated that if each of these communities had survived, you couldn’t travel 12 miles through Kansas without coming to a town - a much different reality than the clear skies and open spaces experienced in most of Kansas today. However, research by Daniel Fitzgerald of the Kansas Historical Society includes over 6,000 “dead towns” in Kansas. Some places that qualify as ghost towns may have 100 residents or more.Īccording to the website Ghost Towns of America, there are 21 ghost towns in Missouri (10 of which are within 25 miles of Kansas City) and 308 in Kansas (20 within 25 miles of Lawrence). Generally, the term ghost (or dead or extinct) town is a place that was once thriving but has since changed in some essential elements: the population decreased, the town annexed, buildings destroyed through fire, flood, blight or eminent domain. Not necessarily all ghost towns are empty shells.
