State hubs
50 states have a hub with a map and every known site: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. The others are greyed out until their hub is ready. Every site in all 50 states still has its own page, and the search box finds them.
State hub · Florida
Florida's ghost towns include ports and island towns ended by war, storms and disease. Indian Key was burned in an 1840 raid during the Second Seminole War, a hurricane destroyed Port Leon in 1843, and another wrecked the cedar mill town on Atsena Otie Key in 1896. The Great Freeze of 1894 and 1895 ruined citrus towns like Eldora. Others were timber and turpentine settlements, phosphate company towns such as Brewster, Spanish and Seminole War forts, and colonies that did not last, from the Japanese farmers of the Yamato Colony to the Koreshan Unity commune at Estero. Rosewood, a mostly Black town, was burned by a white mob in 1923.
Our index has 253 sites. Of the 136 we can map so far, the most are in Hillsborough and Manatee counties around Tampa Bay. What survives is often slight. Some town sites now lie under suburbs, farms or airports: the Yamato Colony's land is now Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Airport. Others sit inside parks and wildlife refuges, which is where most of what you can still see is: the Koreshan settlement buildings, the rebuilt fort at Fort Mose, the Eldora State House, and the ruins on Indian Key and Atsena Otie Key.
Town guides
Our complete guides, most-read first: history, what's left, current access, photos, maps and directions.
GuideLevy County
A mostly Black town of a few hundred people near Cedar Key that white mobs attacked and burned in the first week of 1923. Its families fled and none…
GuideMonroe County
A village of fishermen, charcoal burners and farmers at the tip of the Florida mainland. After the national park was created its people were moved…
GuideSt. Johns County
A fortified town that Spanish Florida recognized in 1738 for Africans who had escaped slavery in the English colonies. Its people left for Cuba in…
GuideMadison County
A sawmill town where the Withlacoochee meets the Suwannee, founded by a man who became governor. It faded with the pine after 1900 and lost its post…
GuideMarion County
A lakeside orange town of about a hundred people that the freeze of 1894–95 emptied. One family bought it up, and its old frame buildings now form a…
GuideVolusia County
A village of citrus growers and fishermen on Mosquito Lagoon that lived by the steamboat. The freezes of 1894 and 1895 killed its groves, the…
GuideLevy County
An island town half a mile off Cedar Key that had an Army depot, a post office and a pencil-company cedar mill. The hurricane of 1896 wrecked it, and…
Monroe County
A wreckers' town on a small island off the Overseas Highway, briefly the seat of Dade County. A raid in 1840 burned it, and the last cabins went in…
Lee County
A utopian colony on the Estero River whose members believed the whole universe lay inside a hollow Earth. It peaked before its founder's death in…
Watch
Historic houses, a lagoon settlement, and an Everglades gateway. Explore the history, maps and access notes before you go.
Where to start
Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.
St. Johns County
Recognized in 1738 as a town for Africans who escaped slavery in the English colonies, the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what is now the US. A replica of the fort opened in the state park in May 2025.
Lee County
Settlement that Cyrus Teed and his Koreshan Unity followers founded at Estero in 1894. The last four members gave the land to the state in 1961; 11 historic buildings stand in the park.
Monroe County
Wreckers' island town and briefly the seat of Dade County, burned in an 1840 raid. Foundations and cisterns remain. Boat access only; closed from April 2026 for up to six months.
Volusia County
Citrus town on Mosquito Lagoon that the 1894 and 1895 freezes nearly emptied, later a winter retreat. The Eldora State House, built around 1912, stands in Canaveral National Seashore.
Monroe County
Fishing and charcoal settlement at the tip of the peninsula, named in 1893. Its residents were moved out after Everglades National Park was created; the park area there has a visitor center, lodge and marina.
Levy County
Island town half a mile off Cedar Key whose Faber pencil-cedar mill was wrecked by an 1896 hurricane. A trail in the wildlife refuge passes ruins on the way to the old cemetery.
Levy County
Mostly Black town on State Road 24 that a white mob burned in January 1923. Homes and businesses have grown up there since the 1950s; a state marker stands by the John Wright House, the one building left from 1923.
Palm Beach County
Japanese farming colony of 1903 near Boca Raton, hit by pineapple blight in 1908 and cheaper Cuban fruit. The Morikami Museum, on land given by colonist George Morikami, tells its story.
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 Florida index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.
No sites match. Try fewer letters or another county.
Plan a trip
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10; check park alerts before any coastal trip in those months. Before paddling to the island sites, check the wind and stay off the water when there is lightning. Bring insect repellent: the interior of Atsena Otie Key can be buggy.
Indian Key and Atsena Otie Key are islands. Indian Key has been closed since April 2026 while its dock is rebuilt; when it reopens, note that parking on the Indian Key fill along the Overseas Highway has been barred during restoration work, and that a small sign in the shallows marks the kayak landing. Atsena Otie Key is about half a mile from Cedar Key's town beach, roughly 20 minutes by kayak, and its old dock is damaged, so powerboats anchor and wade in.
Most sites you can visit are in parks and refuges with posted hours: Koreshan is open 8 a.m. to sunset, its settlement 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. At Rosewood, the state marker stands on State Road 24 outside the John Wright House. Other town sites now lie under suburbs and farms, or, at the Yamato Colony, a university campus and an airport.
Removing or disturbing archaeological objects on land owned or controlled by the state is a crime under Florida law. Metal detecting is prohibited in Florida state parks except on some coastal park beaches, between the toe of the dune and the high-water line where the park manager allows it. National wildlife refuges ban collecting artifacts, and on federal land the Archaeological Resources Protection Act applies.
FAQ
There is no official count. Our index lists 253 sites, drawn partly from Wikipedia's list of Florida ghost towns, which describes itself as incomplete. We have reliable coordinates for 136 of them so far.
For standing buildings, Koreshan State Park keeps 11 structures from the Koreshan Unity settlement at Estero and is open daily. Fort Mose Historic State Park near St. Augustine has a museum and a replica fort that opened in May 2025. The Eldora State House in Canaveral National Seashore can be seen from outside at any time and opens on special occasions.
The Yamato Colony site near Boca Raton is about an hour north of downtown, with the Morikami Museum close by. Chokoloskee, Indian Key (by boat only, and closed for dock work since April 2026) and Flamingo in Everglades National Park are each about two hours away, and Koreshan at Estero about two hours and 40 minutes.
From January 1 to 7, 1923, after a white woman in nearby Sumner accused a Black man of assault, white mobs attacked Rosewood, killed residents and burned the town. The state marker counts five Black people and two white attackers killed; descendants say the toll was higher. Survivors never returned. In 1994 the legislature passed a $2.1 million compensation bill. The marker stands on State Road 24 outside the John Wright House, the only building left from 1923.
Only by boat, and not while it is closed. Florida State Parks closed the island in April 2026 while contractors rebuild its dock, a job slated to take up to six months, so check with the park before you go.
Not on most public land. Florida state parks prohibit it except on designated stretches of some coastal park beaches, national wildlife refuges ban collecting artifacts, and removing archaeological objects from state land is a crime. On private land you need the owner's permission.
Abandoned