Abandoned Towns

Living community · Slope County, North Dakota

Amidon

One of the smallest county seats in the United States, on US 85 in the grasslands of southwestern North Dakota.

46°28′56″N 103°19′11″W
Living community

Amidon is a living town and the seat of Slope County, not a ghost town. The 2020 census counted 24 people, and the county courthouse on Main Street still houses county offices, including the NDSU Extension office.

The label

Why Amidon is called a ghost town

Amidon turns up on ghost town lists because it is tiny and has been shrinking for a century. A long-running ghost town directory lists it, noting that some of its original buildings are still occupied, and Wikipedia's list of ghost towns in North Dakota classes it as semi-abandoned, citing a 2024 ghost town book. The census counted 145 people in 1920 and 24 in 2020, and for years a sign billed it as the smallest county seat in the nation; Gann Valley, South Dakota took that title after the 2010 census. The railroad it was founded for never arrived. A visitor sees a handful of houses, a church, a few businesses and a lot of open prairie, which is easy to read as a town fading away.

History

Amidon then

Amidon was founded in 1910 at the expected end of a Milwaukee Road branch line from McLaughlin, South Dakota. The line never got west of New England, North Dakota, so Amidon is one of the few North Dakota towns never served by rail. A post office opened in 1911, named for federal judge Charles F. Amidon, and in 1915 the town won the seat of the new Slope County. Its first courthouse was a converted church; it later served as a school, two churches and, from 1979, a senior center.

Amidon was the last county seat in the state to get electricity, in 1950. Its population has fallen in most censuses since 1920. In 2013 the mayor planned a city hall on six lots along US 85, paid for with the town's share of oil and gas revenue.

1910. Amidon is founded at the planned end of a Milwaukee Road branch that never reaches it.

1911. A post office opens, named for Judge Charles F. Amidon.

1915. Amidon becomes the seat of Slope County; a church is converted into the first courthouse.

1920. Census: 145.

1950. Electricity arrives, last of the state's county seats. Census: 82.

1990. Census: 24.

2010. Census: 20. Gann Valley, South Dakota becomes the smallest county seat.

2015. The original courthouse is removed from the National Register after many changes (April 3).

2020. Census: 24.

Today

What is there now

Amidon is lived in and governed: it is an incorporated city and the county seat, with 24 people at the 2020 census and an estimated 21 in 2025. The Slope County Courthouse is at 206 Main Street South, where the NDSU Extension's Slope County office posts office hours from Memorial Day to October 1. Today's courthouse is a one-story brick building, as a visitor's video posted in September 2026 shows, along with a World War II memorial to Slope County's dead and the county fairgrounds. The photos below, from May 2008, show the older wood-frame courthouse, the Lebanon Lutheran Church and a business with a BBQ ribs sign on the main road. In August 2025 KFYR reported the Amidon Fire Department's annual burger-and-brat fundraiser drawing bikers and neighbors. Homes and businesses are private; the courthouse grounds and public streets are where a visitor can look around.

Amidon is on the way to White Butte, the highest point in North Dakota, and the Burning Coal Vein area of the Little Missouri National Grassland, both named by the Associated Press in 2013 as nearby draws.

Historic maps

Amidon on USGS maps, 1953–1981

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

USGS topographic map around Amidon, 1953
Dickinson sheet, 1953, 1:250,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Amidon is on US 85, about 24 miles north of Bowman. From Bismarck, take I-94 west and US 85 south.

USGS topographic map of US 85 from Bowman north to Amidon, with routes drawn on it

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

From downtown Bowman23.7 miabout 29 min
  1. From downtown Bowman, take North Main Street and 1st Street NW to 1st Avenue NW (US 85).0.1 mi
  2. Follow US 85 (Theodore Roosevelt Expressway) north.23.2 mi
  3. In Amidon, US 85 becomes 2nd Street; turn right on Inman Street.0.4 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and visiting notes

  • US 85 is the paved highway through town.
  • Homes and businesses in Amidon are private property.

Photos

Amidon in photos

Questions

Common questions

Is Amidon, North Dakota a ghost town?

No. It is a living town of 24 people (2020 census) and the seat of Slope County, though it has been shrinking since 1920.

Is Amidon the smallest county seat in the US?

It was billed that way for years. The Associated Press reported in 2013 that Gann Valley, South Dakota, with 14 people in 2010, had taken the title.

What is there to see?

The courthouse and its World War II memorial, a church and a few businesses along US 85; homes are private. White Butte and the Burning Coal Vein area are nearby.

Nearby

Ghost towns and sites near Amidon

Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our North Dakota index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Wikipedia, "Amidon, North Dakota", read October 28, 2026: the 1910 founding and the branch line that never came, the federal judge it was named for, the census counts 1920-2020 and the 2025 estimate, the 1915 courthouse, electricity in 1950, the coordinates.
  2. Wikipedia, "List of ghost towns in North Dakota", read October 28, 2026: Amidon classed as semi-abandoned, citing Gary B. Speck, Ghost Towns: America's Abandoned Sites and Settlements (2024).
  3. ghosttowns.com, Amidon, read October 28, 2026: the 1911 post office and Judge Charles F. Amidon, the 1915 county seat, a peak of 162 in 1930, original buildings some still occupied.
  4. NDSU Extension, Slope County office, read October 28, 2026: the courthouse at 206 Main Street South and the office hours.
  5. Associated Press via Mitchell Republic, July 25, 2013: the smallest-county-seat sign, Gann Valley's 14 people, the 2010 count of 20, the planned city hall, White Butte and the Burning Coal Vein.
  6. Wikipedia, "Original Slope County Courthouse", read October 28, 2026: the converted church, its later uses, the 1985 listing and April 3, 2015 removal.
  7. Semper Cognita, "Exploring North Dakota (4K) - Amidon, Slope County", YouTube, posted September 1, 2026: the brick courthouse, the war memorial and the fairgrounds.
  8. KFYR+, "Burgers, Brats and Beer: Amidon Fire Department annual fundraiser...", YouTube, posted August 5, 2025: the fire department fundraiser, about 20 residents.
  9. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits