Ghost Towns of the Old West

Locust Grove Church
The ghostly shell of Locust Grove Church in Sherman County, Oregon. Photo courtesy of Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives.

The remnants of long-gone hamlets, former country schools, and abandoned rail sidings can be hunted down throughout Sherman County, Oregon.

Sites include:

  • Rosebush
  • Erskine
  • Bourbon
  • DeMoss
  • Rutledge
  • Wilcox
  • Gorman
  • Gordon
  • Grover
  • Fargher
  • Emigrant Springs
  • Early (for its early spring produce on the John Day River)
  • Miller
  • Monkland
  • McDonald or McDonald's Ferry (at the John Day River Oregon Trail Crossing)
  • Thornberry
  • Klondike

Additionally, the Old West towns of Kent and Shaniko survive today as unincorporated "ghost towns" on the Sherman County plateau.

Meanwhile, other historic buildings live on — and remain in use, including the County Courthouse of 1899.  Tour the National Register of Historic Places for Sherman County, Oregon to see the historic buildings that help make Sherman County what it is today.

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Old House
An old house still holds much of its form on the edge of one of the "ghost towns" in Sherman County, Oregon.
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