Some were wiped out by floods. Others were bypassed by the railroad, which in the 19th century was essentially a death sentence for any community that missed out.
Indiana's ghost towns were once thriving communities, now left as crumbling remnants of the past.
Factors like disease, government decisions, and economic changes led to the demise of these forgotten places.
Some ghost towns, like Connerstown, have been preserved and transformed into living history museums.
Source: Aaron Yoder / Getty
Indiana’s Forgotten Places: The Most Fascinating Ghost Towns Across the Hoosier State
Indiana may be known for cornfields, motorsports, and basketball, but beneath the surface of this great Midwestern state lies a haunting and fascinating history that most people have never explored.
Scattered across its 92 counties are the remnants of towns that once buzzed with life — county seats, canal ports, coal mining camps, and gas boom boomtowns — that were here one decade and virtually gone the next.
Some were wiped out by floods. Others were bypassed by the railroad, which in the 19th century was essentially a death sentence for any community that missed out.
A few fell victim to exhausted natural resources, leaving behind nothing but crumbling foundations, overgrown cemeteries, and the kind of eerie silence that makes you stop and wonder what life was like when these places were alive.
Whether you’re a history buff, an urban explorer, or just someone who loves a good road trip with a story behind it, Indiana’s ghost towns deliver. Here’s a look at some of the most fascinating forgotten places across the Hoosier State.
Once a bustling county seat of 2,000 people in the 1820s, Hindostan was wiped out by a mysterious epidemic and completely abandoned by 1830. Today, only a cemetery and some foundations remain in the Hindostan Falls Public Fishing Area — and the mystery of what exactly killed the town has never fully been solved.
Elkinsville — Brown County
Coordinates: 39.0723° N, -86.2588° W
A small community nestled in the hills of Brown County, Elkinsville met its end not from disease or economic failure but from a government decision. The land was acquired in the early 1960s for the creation of Monroe Lake, and the entire community was displaced. Only a cemetery and submerged foundations remain near the Peninsula Trail.
Trenton — Blackford County
Coordinates: 40.3767° N, -85.4833° W
A textbook example of Indiana’s natural gas boom and bust, Trenton exploded to life in the 1890s with a hotel, stores, and over 1,000 residents at its peak. When the gas ran out, the town vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. It’s one of the most dramatic boom-to-bust stories in the state’s history.
Lockport — Carroll County
Coordinates: 40.5223° N, -86.7542° W
A bustling port on the Wabash and Erie Canal, Lockport thrived throughout the 1840s and 50s as commerce flowed through the waterway. The moment the canal system failed and railroads rendered it obsolete, the town died almost overnight — a fate shared by dozens of Indiana canal towns.
Waverly — Morgan County
Coordinates: 39.5317° N, -86.2583° W
A flourishing 1840s port on the Central Canal, Waverly was devastated by a catastrophic flood in 1848 and then bypassed by the railroad for good measure. The site is now a historic park with a few remaining buildings and archaeological remnants — making it one of the more accessible ghost towns to actually visit.
Dudleytown — Jackson County
Coordinates: 38.9200° N, -86.0150° W
Founded in the 1830s and gone by the early 1900s, Dudleytown has taken on a life of its own in local folklore, with some claiming the land is cursed. Historians point to poor, swampy farmland as the more likely culprit. Either way, the legend makes it one of Indiana’s most intriguing abandoned sites.
Boxley — Hamilton County
Coordinates: 40.0731° N, -86.0197° W
An important early Quaker settlement and a documented stop on the Underground Railroad, Boxley’s legacy runs deep. The community declined after the Civil War, and today only a historic cemetery and a Friends church remain — a quiet but powerful reminder of its role in American history.
Connerstown — Hamilton County
Coordinates: 39.9270° N, -86.0419° W
Founded by fur trader William Conner in the early 19th century, Connerstown included his brick home and several Lenape log cabins. Rather than fading into obscurity, this ghost town got a second life — it’s now preserved and recreated as part of the Conner Prairie living history museum, making it the most visitor-friendly entry on this list.
Moscow (Old Town) — Rush County
Coordinates: 39.5592° N, -85.3697° W
The historic village of Moscow wasn’t lost to time — it was destroyed in a single night when an EF3 tornado tore through in 2008. While a few residents rebuilt, most of the original town site along the Flat Rock River was abandoned and turned into a memorial park.
Metea — Cass County
Coordinates: 40.7912° N, -86.2544° W
Named for Potawatomi chief Metea, this early 19th-century trading post and village holds one of Indiana’s most somber histories. The settlement declined following the forced removal of Native American populations from the region, and today only a cemetery marks the spot where this community once stood.
