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State hub · Delaware
Delaware's ghost towns are small and few, and not much of them is left. The oldest is Zwaanendael, the Dutch post founded in 1631 near Cape Henlopen and burned within two years; Lewes grew on the site. In the 1880s Woodland Beach, on Delaware Bay east of Smyrna, was a resort at the end of a railroad, with a hotel, a pavilion and daily steamboats.
The Queen Anne's Railroad, opened across Sussex County between 1897 and 1898 on its way from the Chesapeake to Lewes, made stops such as Banning, Owens Station and Saint Johnstown between Greenwood and Ellendale. When the line west of Ellendale was abandoned and the tracks pulled up, the small communities around the stops disappeared; New Market, a crossroads church town nearby, left only its cemetery.
Two ghost towns are recent. Airport Villa, Air Force housing from the Korean War years beside today's New Castle County Airport, was torn down about 1982. Glenville, a subdivision in the Red Clay Creek floodplain near Stanton, was bought out after Tropical Storm Henri flooded it in September 2003, abandoned in 2004 and demolished from 2005. As of 2023 its empty streets were fenced off.
Where to start
Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.
New Castle County
Subdivision on Bread and Cheese Island in the Red Clay Creek floodplain, flooded by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Tropical Storm Henri in 2003. The state and county bought out the owners, and demolition began in 2005. A photo of January 10, 2023 shows a grassed-over street, and as of 2023 the site was fenced off to keep out trespassers.
Kent County
Bayshore resort of the 1880s at the end of the Kent County and Delaware Bay Railroad, with the Woodland Park Hotel, a pavilion and steamboats from Philadelphia. The resort is gone; a small community, a state wildlife area, a fishing pier and a boat ramp remain, where the state added life rings in July 2024.
Sussex County
Ferry landing on the Nanticoke River west of Seaford, where James Cannon started a ferry in the 1740s. The state has run the cable ferry since 1935, and Cannon Hall, built around 1810, still stands by the landing. The ferry closed for its annual inspection on September 11, 2025 and was due back on September 22.
Sussex County
Dutch settlement of about 28 colonists built in 1631 near Cape Henlopen and destroyed by 1632; David de Vries found it burned that December. Lewes now covers the area. The state's Zwaanendael Museum, built in 1931, tells its story at 102 Kings Highway, free and open Wednesday to Saturday per the state's page read October 28, 2026.
Sussex County
Queen Anne's Railroad stop east of Greenwood, with 18 people in 1900 and 62 in 1925. Wikipedia says a few houses stand at Beach Highway and Owens Road and a hunting preserve carries the name; we found no dated visit report.
New Castle County
Korean War housing for New Castle Air Force Base: 100 duplex-style houses on 40 acres, sold to the county in 1956 and rented to civilians, with about 500 people in the mid-1960s. It was demolished around 1982; Wikipedia says old streets show beside a county office park on Reads Way, but we found no dated report.
Near a city
Driving distance and time from downtown, routed over OpenStreetMap roads. Dirt roads are usually slower than the estimate.
Directory
Every town, camp and settlement in our Delaware index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.
No sites match. Try fewer letters or another county.
Plan a trip
Little stands at Delaware's ghost towns. At the Queen Anne's Railroad stops you see a crossroads and farm fields; at New Market, a church cemetery. Woodland's ferry and Cannon Hall and the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes are the places with something to visit. Pair the Sussex County crossroads with the ferry for a half-day drive.
The state's cable ferry across the Nanticoke at Woodland runs year-round but closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, in bad weather, and for inspections: in 2025 it was closed from September 11 to September 22 for annual maintenance and a Coast Guard inspection. Closures in earlier years ran for months, so check DelDOT's traffic alerts first.
As of 2023 Glenville's site was fenced off to keep out trespassers. Owens Station, Banning, Saint Johnstown and New Market are on private farms and homes along public roads; look from the road. Woodland Beach's pier, boat ramp and wildlife area are public. On land the state owns or controls, Delaware law forbids digging up, collecting, removing or damaging any archaeological resource without a state permit, with fines of $1,000 to $10,000.
The Zwaanendael Museum at 102 Kings Highway, Lewes, is free and open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., closed Sunday to Tuesday (state page read October 28, 2026). It was built in 1931 for the 300th anniversary of the colony.
FAQ
We found no official count. Wikipedia's list, which calls itself incomplete, named eight places in its November 16, 2025 version, including Zwaanendael. Our index lists 8 sites in Delaware, all with coordinates; it includes Airport Villa but not Zwaanendael.
It flooded. The subdivision sat in the Red Clay Creek floodplain near Stanton and was swamped by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Tropical Storm Henri on September 15, 2003. The state and county bought out the homeowners, the community was abandoned in 2004, and demolition began in 2005. As of 2023 the site was fenced off.
Zwaanendael, a Dutch post of about 28 colonists built in 1631 on Blommaert's Kill near Cape Henlopen. It was destroyed by 1632, and David de Vries found it burned on December 5, 1632. Lewes grew on the site, and the Zwaanendael Museum there marks it.
Woodland Beach is the closest, about 16 miles and half an hour east of Dover on the bay. The Queen Anne's Railroad stops of Saint Johnstown, Owens Station and Banning are 26 to 29 miles south, about 35 to 40 minutes, near Greenwood; little more than the crossroads remains. The Woodland Ferry is about an hour away.
Abandoned