Ghosts of North Dakota 
Archives
Larson is a near-ghost town in Burke County, about 38 miles northwest of Kenmare, or sixty miles northeast of Williston. It was established in 1907 and had a peak population of 114 in 1920. Larson, and the nearby town of Columbus, were named for Columbus Larson, an early postmaster. There’s a good-sized concentration of residents with Scandinavian heritage in the area. US Census Data for Larson Total Population by Place 1960 –… Read More
Alkabo is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating but remote towns we have ever visited. Roughly six miles from Montana and eight miles from Canada, it is the most northwestern settlement in North Dakota. We drove north from Grenora to get to Alkabo and found the drive beautiful but distant from services and fuel. If you decide to visit Alkabo, you should plan accordingly. Alkabo is home to a handful of residents… Read More
Berwick is a near-ghost town in McHenry County, about 7 1/2 miles east of Towner, or 11 miles west of Rugby, and very much off the beaten path. At one time, this was the main street in Berwick, North Dakota. A brick, single-story building wears a sign that reads “Holmes’ Bar,” and it stands one lot over from an abandoned building with peeling siding, the two conjoined by a weathered picket fence…. Read More
What’s in a name? In a place like this, maybe everything. Our initial interest in Lostwood was aroused by the name… Lostwood. It brings to mind images of an old-fashioned, silent town, lost in a haunting copse of elms and knotty oaks; a place where time moves slowly and the residents wouldn’t have it any other way. With a name like Lostwood, we felt compelled to visit and see for ourselves what remains…. Read More
We visited Falsen School in Verendrye, North Dakota in 2010 and discovered it was all that was all left of the town that once stood here. Just a lonely, crumbling facade of the school remains. It was on clearly posted private land, so we weren’t able to get closer on this visit.
Brantford was established in 1910, two years before the Great Northern railroad arrived. Brantford reportedly had 200 residents in 1920, but slowly lost population over the years until the post office was finally closed in 1973. The following photos of Brantford today were contributed by Mark Johnson. His comments on the church shown below: “Church located immediately next to farm, note the steeple has been removed and is setting right in front… Read More
Temple, North Dakota is the kind of place you drive by on a hot summer afternoon or an overcast morning. The kind of place you pass through on your way to a place called Ray from a place known as Tioga. Temple, however, has a destiny now-defined by those prepositions “by” and “through.” You drive by, you pass through, but you’re never going to Temple, North Dakota, because the town as we knew… Read More
Sarles, North Dakota is a tiny town right on the border of Cavalier and Towner Counties, fewer than 4 miles from the Canadian border. At the time of our visit in 2006, this school was undergoing renovation by a lady who wanted to turn it into a hunting lodge. She was doing a very nice job of it. Unfortunately, we’re told the restoration project ended before completion and the school is once… Read More
John Piepkorn contributed these photos of the Hamlet School, in Williams County, in 2010 with the following comments: I have attached some images of the Hamlet, ND school. The “town” has approximately 5 houses that look to be inhabited and about 1/4 mile down a dirt road from the houses, the school sits decaying. There is no roof and much of the brick wall in the back is gone. The inside was inhabited… Read More
Recent Comments