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State hub · Illinois
Most of the Illinois towns featured here sit on rivers, and floods destroyed or largely emptied four of them. Kaskaskia, the first state capital until 1819, was mostly destroyed in April 1881 when the Mississippi shifted into a new channel. After the Ohio River flood of 1937, much of Old Shawneetown's population moved several miles inland. After the Great Flood of 1993, Valmeyer rebuilt on the bluffs two miles east and left its old town site to fields. Cairo, where the Ohio meets the Mississippi, fell from 15,203 people in 1920 to 1,733 in 2020.
Inland, Millville in Jo Daviess County was bypassed by the Illinois Central Railroad in 1853 and 1854 and swept away by a flood in 1892. Vishnu Springs in McDonough County was a health resort that could be considered abandoned by the 1920s. Around Chicago, Orchard Place was dissolved for O'Hare Airport and Weston for Fermilab. What survives ranges from living villages with a few historic buildings to town sites with nothing above ground but a plaque.
Town guides
Our complete guides, most-read first: history, what's left, current access, photos, maps and directions.
GuideAlexander County
Cairo grew rich on the rivers and the railroad, peaked at 15,203 people in 1920 and has lost people in every census since 1950. About 1,700 live…
Monroe County
The Great Flood of 1993 put old Valmeyer under as much as 14 feet of water. Instead of rebuilding in the floodplain, the town moved up the bluff and…
GuideLivingston County
A coal town that sprang up on the prairie in 1899, held more than 2,000 people by 1903 and was carted away after its mine closed in 1912. Two waste…
GuideMcDonough County
A healing-spring resort in a wooded ravine that drew crowds in the 1880s and was all but abandoned by the 1920s. Its hotel, built in 1889 or 1890…
Jackson County
The first seat of Jackson County, laid out beside Conrad Will's salt springs on the Big Muddy River. After the courthouse burned in 1843 the county…
GuidePike County
A ferry crossing of 1822 that became a steamboat landing with a hotel, a boat yard and a grist mill, then lost its trade to the railroad town of…
GuideKnox County
A grain and stock station laid out on the Santa Fe railroad in 1888, in the flood-prone valley of Court Creek. Its last houses are said to have been…
GuideBureau County
A coal village laid out in 1864 beside the Burlington railroad, with one store and a post office called Lovejoy. The mines closed in 1881, and the…
GuideJo Daviess County
A stage stop and mill town where the Apple River meets its South Fork, on the old road from Chicago to Galena. The railroad passed it by in 1854, and…
Randolph County
A French colonial town that became the first capital of Illinois, then lost its site to the Mississippi in 1881. A village of 21 people, a red brick…
GuideGallatin County
The land office and banking town of early Illinois, flooded again and again by the Ohio until 1937 sent most of its people to higher ground. A…
Watch
Old river ports, a former capital, and living historic communities. Explore the history, maps and access notes before you go.
Where to start
Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.
Randolph County
French mission of 1703 and the first state capital, mostly destroyed when the Mississippi changed course in 1881. An estimated 23 people lived there in 2024, its road access runs through Missouri, and the Kaskaskia Bell memorial is open daily, sunrise to sunset.
Gallatin County
Ohio River town and site of the first bank chartered in Illinois, in 1816. Many residents moved inland after the 1937 flood; an estimated 104 people lived there in 2024. The bank building of 1839 to 1841 stands but is closed for tours.
Alexander County
River city at the meeting of the Ohio and Mississippi, ringed by levees and flood walls. It peaked at 15,203 people in 1920 and had an estimated 1,523 in 2024. The 1872 Custom House and Magnolia Manor still stand.
Monroe County
After the Great Flood of 1993 the village rebuilt two miles east, on land more than 300 feet higher. Route 156 runs through the old site, which Belt Magazine found mostly cornfield in 2021, with about 25 homes still lived in.
Jo Daviess County
Stagecoach town of 1835, bypassed by the railroad and swept away in 1892 when a mill dam burst upstream. Nothing stands; two plaques mark the site in Apple River Canyon State Park.
McDonough County
Health resort of the late 1800s, considered abandoned by the 1920s. The ruined Capitol Hotel stands in a wildlife sanctuary owned by the Western Illinois University Foundation. In the newest report we found, from October 2018, it opened only for an open house every few years.
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 Illinois index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.
No sites match. Try fewer letters or another county.
Plan a trip
Floods destroyed or largely emptied four of the towns featured here, and the rivers still rise. Kaskaskia sits on the floodplain west of the Mississippi, its road access runs through Missouri, and the 1993 flood left it under more than 9 feet of water. Cairo is enclosed by levees and flood walls and was evacuated in the 2011 flood. Old Shawneetown and old Valmeyer sit on floodplain too, so check river levels before you go.
An Illinois ghost town is often a plaque, a cemetery or a single building. Millville has no visible remains, only two plaques at Apple River Canyon State Park, and the old Valmeyer site is mostly fields. Read up before you drive out, and pair a site with a living town nearby.
State historic sites keep their own schedules. The Kaskaskia Bell memorial is open sunrise to sunset for self-guided visits, while the Shawneetown Bank is closed for tours. Vishnu Springs belongs to the Western Illinois University Foundation. In October 2018, the newest report we found, Tri States Public Radio said the Friends of Vishnu hold an open house there every few years, with the Foundation's permission; otherwise the site is closed to the public.
At the Millville town site you may walk about and picnic, but metal detecting and removing artifacts are not allowed, and the site is protected by state and federal law. On private land, ask the owner before you walk in.
FAQ
There is no official count. Our index has 87 entries, 70 of them with coordinates on our map so far. Not every entry is empty: Cairo, Kaskaskia, Old Shawneetown and Valmeyer are still lived in.
There is no single answer. Kaskaskia was the first state capital, and an estimated 23 people still lived there in 2024. Cairo is the largest place on the list, a city that had 15,203 people in 1920, and Vishnu Springs is known for its abandoned resort hotel.
Only at an open house, per the newest report we found. The land was donated to Western Illinois University in 2003 and is operated by the WIU Foundation as a wildlife sanctuary. In October 2018 Tri States Public Radio said the Friends of Vishnu hold an open house every few years, with the Foundation's permission; outside those days the site is closed to the public.
In April 1881 the Mississippi shifted east into a new channel, leaving the town on the river's west side while the state line stayed where it was. Kaskaskia has an Illinois area code and a Missouri ZIP code, and its road access runs through Missouri.
A few, though little survives. Orchard Place was dissolved for O'Hare Airport, whose code ORD comes from its name. Weston voted itself out of existence when the site for Fermilab was chosen in 1966, and its houses are now used as offices and residences for the laboratory's visiting collaborators. Millville, in Apple River Canyon State Park, is about three hours west by road.
Abandoned