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All the United States South Dakota Argonne Ghost Town

Argonne Ghost Town

Once a thriving town of 100, Argonne was abandoned around 1970.

Argonne, South Dakota

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Kevin
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  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
  Kevin OKeeffe / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Located on a seemingly unnamed dirt track, Argonne, South Dakota, has been a ghost town since the closure of its elementary school in the 1970s.  Today all that's left of the town is a small sign, a derelict grain silo, and the vault of a former bank.

Louis Gotthelf, a Prussian-born medical doctor, founded the town as St. Mary's in 1886 along the Northwestern Railway line. Almost immediately the town struggled to grow. The Gotthelf family became one of the first to leave, moving to Parker, South Dakota, in 1889.

In 1920, St. Mary's was renamed Argonne in honor of the men who died at the Battle of Meuse-Argonne in France during World War II. At the time, the town had about 100 residents eventually dwindling to only eight in 1970.

Today few places seem as remote in the United States as Argonne, yet the ghost town is only a 15-minute drive from a county seat of approximately 900 people.

It may be cliched to characterize the site of a ghost town as possessing an eerie, haunting beauty. Nevertheless, those conditions prevail at Argonne, particularly as one wanders about the semi-forested, triangular-shaped grove (clearly delineated on Google Maps) where much of the ghost town is set.

Related Tags

Ruins Abandoned Wild West Ghosts Ghost Towns

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Added By

Kevin OKeeffe

Published

May 8, 2024

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Sources
  • https://www.minercountyhistoricalsociety.org/argonne1.html
  • https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm7148_Argonne_South_Dakota
Argonne Ghost Town
Argonne, South Dakota, 57349
United States
44.073322, -97.648984

Nearby Places

St. Peter's Rock Grotto

Farmer, South Dakota

miles away

The Corn Palace

Mitchell, South Dakota

miles away

Porter Sculpture Park

Montrose, South Dakota

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Dakota

South Dakota

United States

Places 59
Stories 7

Nearby Places

St. Peter's Rock Grotto

Farmer, South Dakota

miles away

The Corn Palace

Mitchell, South Dakota

miles away

Porter Sculpture Park

Montrose, South Dakota

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Dakota

South Dakota

United States

Places 59
Stories 7

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