Jackson County’s abandoned towns, once thriving during the gold rush, now stand as haunting, forgotten remnants of history.
Jackson County sprang to life when gold was discovered in the early 1850s. Seemingly overnight, towns began to appear. But when the last of the gold was gone, some of the towns were abandoned. Long gone are the stagecoaches, post offices, shops, saloons, quaint churches, and one-room schoolhouses. Today, all that remains of some of Jackson County’s once busting towns is an abandoned cemetery, long overgrown with weeds. For other towns there is just a sign, yet for others, there is nothing left to show that there were once families living and working in the area. Four of the abandoned towns are under lakes. One of the lost towns was taken over by the United States government during World War II. Other towns changed their names, sometimes more than once. Take a step back in time and enjoy the stories and photographs of towns such as Antelope, Antioch, Uniontown, Steamboat, Log Town, Copper, Laurelhurst, McLeod, Kanaka Flats, Brownsboro, Missouri Flat, Sterlingville, Buncom, Table Rock City, Gasburg, Dardanelles, Beagle, Woodville, Watkins, Tolo, and Rock Point.