Interstates with Ghost Towns as exits

[kenarmy]

Are there a lot of examples of this ^ ?

There's an exit on 55 near its southern terminus for Ruddock that has been uninhabited since 1915! And even move weird, once you get off you have no choice but to get back on 55/51 or to use old 51.

[JayhawkCO]

I-40 has a whole business loop for Glenrio, TX/NM with apparently a population of 1.

Chris

[Max Rockatansky]

I-10 in New Mexico with Steins and I-17 with Bumble Bee pop to mind immediately.  I-10 and I-40 are going to have a lot of them in the western states. 

[interstatefan990]

There's examples of this on rural stretches of I-80. One I can think of is Exit 56 which provides access to Aragonite, Utah, an uninhabited ghost town.

[SkyPesos]

There's a good amount of ghost towns on former US 66. Because it parallels an interstate for most of its length, there's most likely some interstate exits to those ghost towns.

[Max Rockatansky]

There's a good amount of ghost towns on former US 66. Because it parallels an interstate for most of its length, there's most likely some interstate exits to those ghost towns.

Ludlow, Essex, Canyon Diablo and Two Guns all pop to mind (aside Glenrio). 

[STLmapboy]

Cove Fort off I-15.

[kphoger]

Do you count Exit #204 on I-70 in Utah, signed for Cisco?

Cisco is a ghost town, but it's also more than five miles from the exit and halfway to the next one along old US-6.

[Max Rockatansky]

Do you count Exit #204 on I-70 in Utah, signed for Cisco?

Cisco is a ghost town, but it's also more than five miles from the exit and halfway to the next one along old US-6.

I'd count it because it's off of UT 128 but Thompson Springs is more fitting for the criteria specified by the OP. 

Some for I-8:

Sentinel
Tacna
Mohawk

Also, it's debatable but I would consider Desert Center on I-10 now a ghost town.  Aside from open businesses there isn't really anyone who lives in Grapevine Village near Fort Tejon on I-5.  Hilt near the Oregon State Line just off I-5 would be another ghost town example. 

[Bitmapped]

I-79 has an exit signed for Roanoke, WV, which was flooded out during the construction of Stonewall Jackson Lake.

[thenetwork]

Do you count Exit #204 on I-70 in Utah, signed for Cisco?

Cisco is a ghost town, but it's also more than five miles from the exit and halfway to the next one along old US-6.

I'd count it because it's off of UT 128 but Thompson Springs is more fitting for the criteria specified by the OP. 

There is a small population in Thompson Springs with a few businesses.  And Cisco is a bit smaller, but someone just opened up a small market on the old US-6/50 highway in Cisco -- In fact, UDOT has blued out the NO SERVICES tags on the exit signs for UT-128/Cisco and Danish Flat as of a couple of months ago.  Neither UDOT nor CDOT have altered their mainline NO SERVICES FOR XX MILES signs between Thompson Springs, UT and Mack, CO as of yet, though.

[OCGuy81]

Do you count Exit #204 on I-70 in Utah, signed for Cisco?

Cisco is a ghost town, but it's also more than five miles from the exit and halfway to the next one along old US-6.

I'd count it because it's off of UT 128 but Thompson Springs is more fitting for the criteria specified by the OP. 

Some for I-8:

Sentinel
Tacna
Mohawk

Also, it's debatable but I would consider Desert Center on I-10 now a ghost town.  Aside from open businesses there isn't really anyone who lives in Grapevine Village near Fort Tejon on I-5.  Hilt near the Oregon State Line just off I-5 would be another ghost town example. 

Hey! Hilt isn't QUITE a ghost town. They have a liquor store that's there for Oregon residents looking to cross state lines for much cheaper booze.

[kenarmy]

There's two really weird ones in MS. Like it's literally weird:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.3426369,-88.7904867,3a,75y,273.86h,70.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6hVrN6fOYTZiVWFJ2AR71w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Meehan Junction isn't even a place. Not even a railroad. Junction? There's a gas station and a few local business but these aren't considered to be located in this place.  Meehan shows up on a few maps, but it's not even considered a community anymore and you can't find out anything about it. There's a church listed there, but it no longer exists apparently. I think its just a graveyard. And most of the houses are abandoned. Lost Gap is even more confusing.. There's literally NOTHING there. As soon as you get off the exit, it directs you to it. But there is only a Meridian Livestock business further down old 80. Did they just make these up when they were choosing exits?

[US 89]

There is a small population in Thompson Springs with a few businesses.  And Cisco is a bit smaller, but someone just opened up a small market on the old US-6/50 highway in Cisco -- In fact, UDOT has blued out the NO SERVICES tags on the exit signs for UT-128/Cisco and Danish Flat as of a couple of months ago.  Neither UDOT nor CDOT have altered their mainline NO SERVICES FOR XX MILES signs between Thompson Springs, UT and Mack, CO as of yet, though.

Are any of the businesses actually in Thompson Springs up and running, though? This past summer I visited it while clinching SR 94 and everything I remember seeing looked like it had been shut down for quite some time. Either way, the gas station right off the I-70 interchange is probably enough to disqualify it.

In addition, I-80 has several in northern Utah outside the Wasatch Front:

- Knolls
- Clive
- Aragonite
- Delle (this somehow has a functioning gas station, but zero permanent population)
- Castle Rock
- Wahsatch

[Takumi]

Not sure if it fits, but I-95 VA exit 24 is for, uh, nothing.

[Max Rockatansky]

There is a small population in Thompson Springs with a few businesses.  And Cisco is a bit smaller, but someone just opened up a small market on the old US-6/50 highway in Cisco -- In fact, UDOT has blued out the NO SERVICES tags on the exit signs for UT-128/Cisco and Danish Flat as of a couple of months ago.  Neither UDOT nor CDOT have altered their mainline NO SERVICES FOR XX MILES signs between Thompson Springs, UT and Mack, CO as of yet, though.

Are any of the businesses actually in Thompson Springs up and running, though? This past summer I visited it while clinching SR 94 and everything I remember seeing looked like it had been shut down for quite some time. Either way, the gas station right off the I-70 interchange is probably enough to disqualify it.

In addition, I-80 has several in northern Utah outside the Wasatch Front:

- Knolls
- Clive
- Aragonite
- Delle (this somehow has a functioning gas station, but zero permanent population)
- Castle Rock
- Wahsatch

Very few of the examples on this thread would be "absolute ghost towns" with a population of zero.  I think the general consensus on Thompson Springs is that it way beyond it's prime and has lost the overwhelming majority of it's population.  Put it this way, almost all the ghost towning circles I run in have stuff the likes of Thompson Springs included as ghost towns.

[kphoger]

Meehan Junction isn't even a place. Not even a railroad. Junction? There's a gas station and a few local business but these aren't considered to be located in this place.  Meehan shows up on a few maps, but it's not even considered a community anymore and you can't find out anything about it. There's a church listed there, but it no longer exists apparently. I think its just a graveyard. And most of the houses are abandoned.

Yep, Meehan Junction.  It's a place.  Here is the road sign entering from the west, and here is the one entering from the east.

Meehan Junction was the location of a railroad depot on the Alabama & Vicksburg railway, 1.3 miles west of the Graham station and 5.1 miles east of the Chunky station.  In other words, it was a depot located at what is currently the siding visible here.  The post office there had formerly been called Siding (prior to 1902), was later simply called Meehan (after 1950), and was closed in 1958.

[Max Rockatansky]

Railroad sidings are probably the most common form of American ghost town.  Usually most railroads set them up every ten miles on average.  They usually included a stop and facilities to service trains.  The car and highways really negated the need for rail siding facilities but so did the improvement in locomotive technology.  So when you see a blank space with a name next to a railroad on Google Maps chances are it really was a active community probably well into the 20th Century. 

[kphoger]

Well, Meehan Junction isn't a ghost town anyway, it's just an unincorporated community.  Here is GSV of multiple occupied houses there.  Here's another along old US-80.

[kenarmy]

Well, Meehan Junction isn't a ghost town anyway, it's just an unincorporated community.  Here is GSV of multiple occupied houses there.  Here's another along old US-80.

But why are these places listed as Enterprise or Meridian? And why cant I find a permanent population.  Its kind of confusing. And what about Lost Gap?

[Max Rockatansky]

Well, Meehan Junction isn't a ghost town anyway, it's just an unincorporated community.  Here is GSV of multiple occupied houses there.  Here's another along old US-80.

Nonetheless if we are counting sidings (I don't see why not) it does open the possibilities up for this thread by a lot. 

[kphoger]

Well, Meehan Junction isn't a ghost town anyway, it's just an unincorporated community.  Here is GSV of multiple occupied houses there.  Here's another along old US-80.

But why are these places listed as Enterprise or Meridian? And why cant I find a permanent population. Its kind of confusing.

Because they're part of other towns as far as the numbers go.  It's those towns that you'll find data for.  Think of it more as the name of a neighborhood in a city, rather than as the name of a distinct town.  Except that, in this case, it isn't within the city limits.

This is similar to thousands of small unincorporated communities all over the country:  their data is lumped in with the larger town nearby, because they're officially part of it for number-crunching purposes.  You have to put their data somewhere, after all!

And what about Lost Gap?

I didn't look into that one.

[TheStranger]

One that I've always noticed is the "town" of Farad, California, the last exit eastbound on I-80 before entering Nevada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farad,_California

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Farad/@39.4244477,-120.0411076,14z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sFarad,+CA!3m4!1s0x80995dafd5035301:0xf84187e59b82231a!8m2!3d39.4199196!4d-120.0316373

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Well, Meehan Junction isn't a ghost town anyway, it's just an unincorporated community.  Here is GSV of multiple occupied houses there.  Here's another along old US-80.

Nonetheless if we are counting sidings (I don't see why not) it does open the possibilities up for this thread by a lot. 

If you have an old DeLormes Gazetter of (insert state here), you'll find plenty of "ghost town" listings for every county/parish.

[kphoger]

Well, Meehan Junction isn't a ghost town anyway, it's just an unincorporated community.  Here is GSV of multiple occupied houses there.  Here's another along old US-80.

Nonetheless if we are counting sidings (I don't see why not) it does open the possibilities up for this thread by a lot. 

If you have an old DeLormes Gazetter of (insert state here), you'll find plenty of "ghost town" listings for every county/parish.

However, the question is still which ones have a signed exit on the Interstate.