The Western Intrigue of Gascoyne, North Dakota

January 21, 2017Troy Larson 44 Comments

Gascoyne is in Bowman County along Highway 12 in southwestern North Dakota, about 15 minutes east of Bowman. It was founded in 1907 as a Milwaukee Road railroad townsite, originally known as Fischbein, named after an early settler.

The former school is the most prominent abandoned structure in Gascoyne. It rests on top of a hill on the west edge of town, right alongside Highway 12.

Update: a visitor to our Facebook page tells us this school was demolished in late 2016.

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All That Remains of Grand Harbor

November 4, 2016Troy Larson 10 Comments

This school house still stands, right off Highway 2, between Devils Lake and Rugby. If you make that drive, you’ll see it just north of the highway. To our knowledge, it is the only remaining original structure from the town that once was Grand Harbor, ND

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Lonely High Cliff Country School

October 17, 2016Troy Larson 4 Comments

Don Collings sent us these photos of High Cliff School with the following comments:

These are views of High Cliff School in Cow Creek Township, about 20 miles northwest of Williston. I attended this school with my brothers and sister (the Collings’ kids, along with the Haven’s, Barkie’s, Benth, Kjos and Brothers kids. The school reopened in 1953 and closed in 1961. To my knowledge it is still standing.

Ghosts of North Dakota is a wonderful web site. Keep up the great work.

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A Lonely Outpost: Hanks, North Dakota

October 10, 2016Troy Larson 61 Comments

Hanks, North Dakota, in Williams County, about 33 miles northwest of Williston, is a lonely outpost on the prairie, just one resident away from being a ghost town.

Hanks was the subject of some national media in 2008 when National Geographic published The Emptied Prairie (available at the link only with a subscription) by Charles Bowden, a polarizing piece roundly denounced by many North Dakotans in letters to editors, in the Dickinson Press for example, or the Bismarck Tribune.

In the article, Bowden characterized a number of North Dakota communities, including Hanks, truthfully with respect to their shrinking populations, but in terms that many found depressing or disparaging.

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Abandoned Wabek, North Dakota Saloon

September 28, 2016Troy Larson 28 Comments

This is Wabek, North Dakota, in Mountrail County, about 35 miles southwest of Minot. Wabek was founded in 1914 and we visited and captured these photos 100 years later, in 2014.

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How Much Longer for Ghost Town Arena?

September 19, 2016Troy Larson 10 Comments

We first visited Arena, North Dakota, a ghost town in Burleigh County, about 35 miles northeast of Bismarck, in 2004, and we’ve been keeping our eyes on it ever since, with the assistance of some kindred spirit adventurers who check-in from time to time to let us know what’s happening.

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Bergen, North Dakota: Population 7

August 19, 2016November 29, 2021Troy Larson 40 Comments

Bergen is a near-ghost town in McHenry county, just off Highway 52, about 30 miles southeast of Minot. The town was founded with a post office in 1905, and the railroad arrived in 1907. Bergen’s peak population was reportedly 98 residents.

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Abandoned Maza School

August 17, 2016November 29, 2021Troy Larson 15 Comments

This former schoolhouse is virtually all that remains of a town that was once Maza in southern Towner county, a short drive south of Cando. In 2000, the population of Maza was listed as 5. In 2002, the city was dissolved. Today, there are some scattered buildings in the area and a farm or two.

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The Derelict Beauty of Meyer Township School Number 1

July 28, 2016Troy Larson Leave a comment

It’s been closed since 1959, but Meyer Township School Number 1 still stands, right off US Highway 2, just a couple miles east of Rugby, North Dakota. It’s a frequently photographed place due to its highly visible location right next to the highway–just as I was leaving, someone else was pulling in to get some photos of their own.

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A Sleepy Saturday in McGregor, North Dakota

March 31, 2016Troy Larson 44 Comments

The McGregor town site was established in 1910 and assumed the name of a nearby rural post office which had been established five years earlier. We visited McGregor, in Williams County about 45 miles northeast of Williston, in 2010, and we were somewhat surprised by the large number of vacant buildings.

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