We've had a lot of listener requests related to ghost towns, so this Halloween season, we've got six places in the U.S. that could be labeled as such. But not not all are empty today.

Research:

Knutson, Julie. “The End of Centralia’s Abandoned, Colorful, Anarchic ‘Graffiti Highway.’” Atlas Obscura. 9/14/2020. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/centralia-graffiti-highway-buried
California State Parks. “Bodie State Historic Park.” https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
California State Parks. “Bodie State Historic Park.” https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/509/files/BodieSHPFinalWebLayout2016.pdf
Severn, Carly. “This Ghost Town’s 'Curse' Isn't What You Think.” KQED. 7/12/2018. https://www.kqed.org/news/11640709/how-this-ghost-towns-curse-backfired-on-park-rangers
Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail. “The Mound at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.” https://alabamamoundtrail.org/mound-site/old-cahawba/
Alabama Historical Commission. “History of Old Cahawba.” https://ahc.alabama.gov/CahawbaHistoryFacts.aspx
Jones, James. “Cahawba Listed as One of World’s 10 Spookiest Ghost Towns.” Selma Times Journal. 10/19/2023. https://www.selmatimesjournal.com/2023/10/19/cahawba-listed-as-one-of-worlds-10-spookiest-ghost-towns/
Pykles, Benjamin C. “Iosepa, Utah’s Pacific Islander Pioneers.” Utah Historical Society. https://history.utah.gov/iosepa-utahs-pacific-islander-pioneers/
Chapman, Hannah. “Iosepa: Utah’s Little Hawai'i.” Intermountain Histories. https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/388
Fitisemanu, Nafanua. “Iosepa: Utah Ghost Town.” https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a9e6a54ef1124c4e80d8eecfac09263d
Schirer, David L. “Iospa.” Utah History Encyclopedia. https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/i/IOSEPA.shtml
Utah American Indian Digital Archive. “History: The Goshutes.” https://utahindians.org/archives/goshute/history.html
Atkin, Dennis H. “A History of Iosepa, the Utah Polynesian Colony.” https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4489/
Heinrich, Kieth. “Pithole City.” Pennsylvania Heritage. Fall 2015. https://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/pithole-city/
Comet, Jorge Navarro. “Pithole: The Rapid Rise and Sudden Fall of an Oil Boomtown.” AAPG. 7/1/2022. https://www.aapg.org/news-and-media/details/explorer/articleid/63602/pithole-the-rapid-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-an-oil-boomtown
Town of Jerome. “Jerome: Then and Now.” https://jerome.az.gov/jerome-then-and-now
Penn State. “Anthracite Coal Mining Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.” https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/anthracite
Turino, Mitchell. “Centralia Mine Fire.” Environment and Society. https://www.environmentandsociety.org/tools/keywords/centralia-mine-fire
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. “The Centralia Mine Fire” https://files.dep.state.pa.us/mining/Abandoned%20Mine%20Reclamation/AbandonedMinePortalFiles/Centralia/CentraliaFrequentlyAskedQuestions.pdf
Blakemore, Erin. “This Mine Fire Has Been Burning For Over 50 Years.” History. 5/27/2025. https://www.history.com/articles/mine-fire-burning-more-50-years-ghost-town
Currie, Tyler. “Zip Code 00000.” Washington Post. 4/2/2003. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2003/04/02/AR2005033108150.html
Lewis, Herbert J. “Cahaba.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 5/20/2008. https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/cahaba/
Shahin, Alexandra Kennon. “Alabama's Ghost Capital.” 9/21/2018. https://countryroadsmagazine.com/travel/getaways/alabama-s-ghost-capital/
Alabama Tourism. “Tour of Old Cahawba.” 10/25/2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L18GAP-vQY
Splain, Shelby Weaver. “Pithole or Bust!” 7/24/2024. https://pahistoricpreservation.com/pithole-bust/

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Six Impossible Episodes: U.S. Ghost Towns

Stuff You Missed in History Class