Abandoned Towns

On the road

Route 66 ghost towns

Ghost towns on or beside any alignment of U.S. Route 66, from the 1926 road to the bypasses that ended it in 1985: mining camps, railroad stops and roadside towns that filled up with travelers and emptied when the interstates went around them.

26Town guides
6States

Most read

The green steel truss bridge that carried Route 66 over the Meramec River at Times Beach, between wooded banksGuide

Times Beach

38.51, -90.60

St. Louis County, Missouri

A summer resort town of the 1920s on the Meramec River that grew past 2,000 people. Dioxin in the oil sprayed on its dirt roads led to a federal…

State parkMill, lumber and companyRoute 66
A burro walks down the middle of Oatman's Main Street between wooden storefronts and parked carsGuide

Oatman

35.03, -114.38

Mohave County, Arizona

A gold camp that boomed after 1915, lost Route 66 in 1952 and came back as a tourist town. About 100 people live here, and wild burros still walk…

Living townGold miningRoute 66
The Exit 230 Two Guns sign beside I-40, with the long stone walls of the old zoo in the brush under a grey skyGuide

Two Guns

35.12, -111.09

Coconino County, Arizona

A Route 66 trading post, zoo and gas station on the rim of Canyon Diablo, built up in the 1920s and burned out in 1971. The ruins sit on private land…

Ruins · 2026 reportsRailroad and roadRoute 66
Main Street in Quapaw, a wide two-lane road with low brick storefronts and a Route 66 shield painted on the pavementGuide

Quapaw

36.96, -94.79

Ottawa County, Oklahoma

The first town on Route 66 in Oklahoma, a hay-shipping stop that boomed with the lead and zinc mines and shrank when they closed. It had 811 people…

Living town · 811 people (2020)Farm and ranchRoute 66
A tall Motel and Cafe sign in front of an abandoned white motel building with a red-trimmed gable, among bare treesGuide

Glenrio

35.18, -103.04

Deaf Smith County, Texas

A railroad siding that became a Route 66 stop straddling two states. Interstate 40 passed it by in 1973, and its motels, cafes and gas stations stand…

RuinsRailroad and roadRoute 66
A Route 66 shield painted on the old highway through Ludlow at dusk, with power poles and desert mountains beyondGuide

Ludlow

34.72, -116.16

San Bernardino County, California

A railroad town that died twice: once when its mines and railroads quit, and again when I-40 replaced Route 66. A few people still run the gas…

Living stop and ruins · Sep 2026 videoRailroad and roadRoute 66

Chicago to Santa Monica

The towns in road order

Every guide on or beside an alignment of the old highway, 1926 to 1985, numbered as a westbound driver meets them. Each guide is filed under what its town was built for; the Route 66 marker sits beside that type.

Santa Fe loop, 1926–1937Kingman–Topock bypass, 1952ChicagoSt. LouisTulsaOklahoma CityAmarilloAlbuquerqueFlagstaffBarstowSanta Monica26. Ludlow, California2625. Goffs, California2524. Oatman, Arizona2423. Goldroad, Arizona2322. Powell, Arizona2221. Franconia, Arizona2120. Hackberry, Arizona2019. Twin Arrows, Arizona1918. Two Guns, Arizona1817. Seama, New Mexico1716. Barton, New Mexico1615. Glorieta, New Mexico1514. Cuervo, New Mexico1413. Montoya, New Mexico1312. Glenrio, Texas1211. Landergin, Texas1110. Texola, Oklahoma109. Hext, Oklahoma98. Foss, Oklahoma87. Bridgeport, Oklahoma76. Depew, Oklahoma65. Oakhurst, Oklahoma54. Afton, Oklahoma43. Quapaw, Oklahoma32. Arlington, Missouri21. Times Beach, Missouri1
The old road across eight states, Chicago to Santa Monica. Thin lines are the Santa Fe loop (1926–1937) and the Kingman–Topock bypass (1952). Numbers match the road log below. Stylized route through the towns it ran through. State outlines: US Census (public domain).

Missouri 2

  1. Times BeachMill, lumber and company

    On the 1926 alignment along the town's south edge, crossing the Meramec on the 1931–1932 bridge. The site is Route 66 State Park.

  2. ArlingtonRailroad and road

    On the original two-lane alignment, paved through town in 1931; a 1952 four-lane bypassed it, then I-44 in 1966–1967.

Oklahoma 8

  1. QuapawFarm and ranch

    Route 66 is Main Street, now US 69A; the first Oklahoma town on the road from Kansas, it marked the highway's paving in 1933.

  2. AftonRailroad and road

    Route 66 runs through town as First Street (US 60/69); the 1926–1937 Ribbon Road alignment joins it just east of town.

  3. Oakhurst

    Route 66 ran through town on Southwest Boulevard, then called Sapulpa Road, from 1926 to 1951; later alignments pass its east side.

  4. DepewRailroad and road

    Main Street was US 66 from 1926 until fall 1928, when the highway was moved to a new road just north of town.

  5. BridgeportFarm and ranch

    On US 66 from 1926 to 1934, when the new Pony Bridge alignment bypassed it; that road (OK 66) runs half a mile south of town.

  6. FossFarm and ranch

    US 66 ran through town from 1926 until 1931, when it was moved to a straighter line half a mile south, past Kobel's Place.

  7. HextFarm and ranch

    Route 66 ran through Hext from 1929, four lanes wide from 1956, and was Oklahoma's last stretch to lose the US 66 name, in 1975.

  8. TexolaRailroad and road

    Route 66 ran through town as 5th Street until I-40 opened just to the north in 1975.

Texas 2

  1. LanderginFarm and ranch

    Route 66 ran past on the north side of the railroad from 1926 and on the south side from 1936, where I-40 runs now.

  2. GlenrioRailroad and road

    On US 66 from November 1926; the highway ran through town on the state line until I-40 bypassed it in September 1973.

New Mexico 5

  1. MontoyaRailroad and road

    On US 66 from 1926; the old highway, now the frontage road north of I-40, runs past the Richardson Store at the Montoya exit.

  2. CuervoRailroad and road

    On US 66 from 1926, through the middle of town; the old road survives as the frontage road on the north side of I-40.

  3. GlorietaRailroad and road

    On the 1926–1937 alignment of US 66 (with US 85) over Glorieta Pass; NM 50, the old highway, runs through the village.

  4. Barton

    On the 1937 "Santa Fe cutoff" alignment of US 66, now NM 333, at its junction with Sedillo Road just south of I-40.

  5. Seama

    About a mile south of Historic US 66 (now NM 124), by the Pueblo of Laguna's account; I-40 exit 104 serves the village.

Arizona 7

  1. Two GunsRailroad and road

    On US 66 from 1926: the road crossed Canyon Diablo here, on the 1915 bridge until a new one opened just north in 1938.

  2. Twin ArrowsRailroad and road

    Beside US 66 from about 1949, just east of the Padre Canyon crossing; I-40 replaced the highway here, at exit 219.

  3. HackberrySilver mining

    On the 1926–1978 alignment between Kingman and Peach Springs; the old road, now State Route 66, passes the store.

  4. FranconiaRailroad and road

    Half a mile north of the 1952 Topock–Kingman alignment, later rebuilt as I-40; the 1970 USGS sheet marks it US 66.

  5. PowellRailroad and road

    Under a mile north of the 1952 Topock–Kingman alignment, later replaced by I-40; the 1970 USGS sheet shows it south of the siding.

  6. GoldroadGold mining

    On the 1926–1952 alignment just west of Sitgreaves Pass; the highway wound through the townsite.

  7. OatmanGold mining

    On the 1926–1952 alignment over Sitgreaves Pass; Main Street was the highway.

California 2

  1. GoffsRailroad and road

    On the 1926–1931 alignment, now Goffs Road; the restored schoolhouse stands at its corner with Lanfair Road.

  2. LudlowRailroad and road

    US 66 ran down Main Street until 1931, then on a new paved road half a mile north, now National Trails Highway beside I-40.