Abandoned Towns
A country-road junction at Knockemstiff with lawns, mature trees, a low building and scattered homes in August 2013

Knockemstiff

Donald Ray Pollock remembered a community of stores, a bar and a church here. His fiction made the name famous after that shared village life had faded.

39°16′04″N 83°07′09″W · ≈710 ft

Photo: Aesopposea, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Rural homes · private land

The newest dated view we found is an August 15, 2013 photograph of the crossroads, showing lawns, a low building and scattered homes. In 2009 Donald Ray Pollock called the old community “pretty much a ghost town”, with its bar and stores gone. Homes and yards are private, and we found no dated report on visitor access.

Overview

The stores went; the name stayed

Knockemstiff lies at Black Run Road and Shady Glen Road southwest of Chillicothe. It is associated with Donald Ray Pollock, who grew up here and used the name for his 2008 collection of short stories. His recollection gives the place a clearer ghost-town history than its unusual name alone.

In a September 22, 2009 interview with The Rumpus, Pollock described the loss of a close community. He remembered a bar, three stores and a church, and estimated that about 500 people once lived there. He called it “pretty much a ghost town.” That was a resident’s retrospective account, not a census or a present-day inspection.

Wikipedia identifies newer rural homes in the same area. The 2013 photograph on this page also shows lawns and buildings around the crossroads. The old commercial community can have disappeared while people continue to make homes here. We have not verified a tourist attraction, public walking area or current arrangement for visiting individual buildings.

A name with several stories

A name with several stories

Explanations of Knockemstiff’s name compete with one another. Wikipedia records tales involving a tavern fight, a preacher’s advice about an unfaithful husband, and a term for moonshine. None establishes a single proven origin. Pollock said he amplified the rough reputation he remembered when he wrote his fiction. The stories in his books should not be read as a factual guide to the people living here.

The crossroads on the maps

The crossroads on the maps

The 1961 Chillicothe West sheet labels both Knockemstiff and Shady Glen Church beside Black Run. It shows a line of buildings extending east along the valley road. The 1986 Hillsboro sheet retains the Knockemstiff name. These maps place the settlement without establishing the present use or ownership of any building.

Knockemstiff is labeled where the roads meet beside Black Run.
USGS topographic map. Knockemstiff is labeled where the roads meet beside Black Run.
Fields, lawns and scattered roofs occupy the valley between wooded hills.
USGS aerial imagery. Fields, lawns and scattered roofs occupy the valley between wooded hills.

Historic maps

Knockemstiff on USGS maps, 1961–1986

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 Knockemstiff, 1961
Chillicothe West sheet, 1961, 1:24,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

These computed routes locate the area. They do not establish visitor access, parking or permission to enter property.

USGS map locating Knockemstiff and its approach routes

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

From central Chillicothe12.6 miabout 22 min
  1. Follow West Main Street and bear slightly right onto Western Avenue (US 50).9.1 mi
  2. Turn left onto Blain Highway (C-167).1.1 mi
  3. Turn right onto Black Run Road and continue to the mapped junction with Shady Glen Road.2.4 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • OSRM computed these routes on OpenStreetMap data on October 20, 2026. We have not driven them and found no dated report of road surfaces or vehicle requirements.

Photos

Knockemstiff in photographs

Visitor reports

Been to Knockemstiff?

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 Knockemstiff

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

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, Knockemstiff: undated fact sheet; county and reported remains only. Its old road ratings are not used as current driving advice.
  2. Wikipedia, Knockemstiff, Ohio: history and coordinates, read October 20, 2026; undated present-tense descriptions are not current access evidence.
  3. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Route distances and times: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 20, 2026. Historical maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, sheet years shown below.
  4. Porter Shreve, The Rumpus interview with Donald Ray Pollock, September 22, 2009: Pollock’s first-person account of the former shops, church, approximate population and decline; his explanation that fiction amplified the town’s reputation.
  5. Aesopposea’s Commons file, August 15, 2013: dated view of the junction; own work under CC BY-SA 3.0. No camera coordinates supplied; the file description identifies the same junction as the USGS maps.

Photo and map credits

Record gaps. We have Pollock’s 2009 recollection, the mapped crossroads and a 2013 photograph. We have no field report since then, verified visitor parking, permission for buildings or dated road-condition report.