Abandoned Towns
Aerial view of the Africa area: a wooded ridge at left, long strips of farm fields and tree lines on the bottomland, and the Ohio River with barges at right

Africa

After the Civil War, Black families settled the river bottoms of Ohio Township, and the area became known as Africa. The record is thin and nothing is reported standing, so this page shows its gaps.

37°50′25″N 87°04′22″W · ≈380 ft

Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).

Access not verified

The newest dated account we found is the Indiana Historical Society's Spencer County entry of July 2014. It speaks of the settlement in the past tense, says the Ohio River still floods the area, and names nothing standing. Current USGS aerial imagery shows farm fields at the mapped point, at the foot of a wooded ridge. We found no report on access and don't know who owns the land, so treat it as private and look from the road.

Overview

A settlement on the river bottoms

The 1860 census found 2 Black residents in Spencer County. By 1870 it counted 949, and more than 650 of them lived in Ohio Township, on the lowlands along the Ohio River south of Rockport, the county seat. The Indiana Historical Society says they lived in a settlement sometimes known as Africa.

The society's notes, written in 2014, add a few details. The ground was low and sandy, houses were built on stilts, and the river still floods the area. An 1879 county atlas shows a Black school in the township. Wikipedia says the settlement's post office was called Pueblo, the name of a place about two miles to the west-southwest, and that Africa faced repeated tensions with the white towns around it.

That is nearly all the written record holds. The best evidence on the ground is the USGS maps. The 1901 Owensboro sheet prints Africa beside a row of houses where the bottomland meets a wooded ridge. By 1952 only one or two buildings stand near the name, and today the spot is farm fields.

Timeline

What we know

Africa on the 1901 USGS Owensboro sheet: houses along the road at the foot of the hills, with Pueblo to the west-southwest and the Ohio River to the east
Africa on the 1901 USGS Owensboro sheet: houses along the road at the foot of the hills, with Pueblo to the west-southwest and the Ohio River to the east · Map: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
  1. The census counts 2 Black residents in Spencer County.
  2. The count is 949. More than 650 of them live in Ohio Township, south of Rockport, in a settlement sometimes known as Africa.
  3. B. N. Griffing's county atlas shows a Black school in Ohio Township.
  4. Wikipedia quotes an Indianapolis News piece of December 19, 1900 that names the settlement. We couldn't open the original.
  5. The USGS Owensboro sheet labels Africa, with a row of houses along the road at the foot of the hills and Pueblo about two miles to the west-southwest.
  6. The Owensboro East sheets still print the name, now with only one or two buildings beside it.
  7. The Indiana Historical Society's county entry, dated July 25, 2014, speaks of the settlement in the past tense and notes that the Ohio River still floods the area. It names no remains.
  8. The current USGS map still labels Africa, at a bend in a county road among fields. No remains are reported.

Site map

Where the settlement stood

The 1901 sheet shows a row of houses along the road north and south of the Africa label, at the edge of the bottomland, with a benchmark at 388 feet just to the south. The Ohio River and the Kentucky line lie a little over a mile east. On the 1952 and 1967 Owensboro East sheets the label sits at a corner where a county road coming north turns east, then bends northeast, with a creek and a wooded ridge to the west and one or two buildings nearby. We haven't been able to confirm whether anything from the settlement survives.

USGS topographic map of the Africa area: the Africa label at a county road corner, a wooded ridge to the west and wetland strips on the bottomland to the east
USGS The National Map, topo. Africa sits below the ridge, at a corner where a county road coming north turns east. CO RD 300 S is to the north and CO RD 400 S to the south.
Aerial view of the Africa area: woods at left, farm fields and tree lines to the right, and a farmstead at upper right
Aerial imagery, same area. Woods cover the ridge at left. Fields and tree lines fill the bottomland, with a farmstead at upper right.

Historic maps

Africa on USGS maps, 1901–1967

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Africa, 1901
Owensboro sheet, 1901, 1:62,500 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Rockport is about 12 minutes away by Old State Road 45 and County Road 50 West. From Evansville the drive follows the Lloyd Expressway and SR 66, then SR 161. Both routes end on county roads at the mapped point. We haven't been there.

USGS topographic map between Rockport and Africa with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Rockport3.8 miabout 12 min
  1. From downtown Rockport, take 5th Street and Walnut Street.0.4 mi
  2. Turn left on South Lincoln Avenue, which becomes South Old State Road 45.1.5 mi
  3. Turn left on South County Road 50 West to the site.1.9 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • The routes are computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us.
  • The Ohio River bottoms here flood, sometimes in winter. Don't drive into water over the road.
  • We don't know who owns the land. Stay on public roads.

Photos

Have photos of Africa?

We haven’t added more photographs of Africa yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

Visitor reports

Been to Africa?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Nearby

Other sites near Africa

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Indiana index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Africa": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time, remains).
  2. Wikipedia, "Africa, Indiana", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation (GNIS), Ohio Township, the Pueblo post office name, tensions with nearby towns, and its quote from an Indianapolis News piece of December 19, 1900. The original, on Newspapers.com, would not open for us.
  3. Indiana Historical Society, "Early Black Settlements by County," Spencer County entry (Lishawna Taylor, July 25, 2014), read October 22, 2026: census counts 1820–1870, the Ohio Township settlement "sometimes known as Africa," the 1879 Griffing atlas school, stilt houses and sandy soil, and that "the Ohio River still floods in the area," the newest dated account of the site we found.
  4. USGS Geographic Names Information System, "Africa" (ID 430026): a populated place at the mapped point, with Pueblo (441632) to the west-southwest. BLM National PLSS: section 10, about 110 m east of the section 9 line, T8S R6W.
  5. Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, Owensboro 1901 and Owensboro East 1952 and 1967 sheets. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

Record5 of 10
  • Coordinates (GNIS)
  • 1870 census figures
  • Black school on the 1879 atlas
  • Historic maps, 1901–1967
  • Name on today's USGS map
  • Founding families
  • Churches and cemetery
  • When and why it emptied
  • Land ownership
  • Photos and field reports
Missing items are what we'll ask readers and local sources to fill.