The legend of Atlantis has fascinated people throughout the ages. It’s hard to imagine an entire town swallowed by the Earth without any trace left behind, but this country is actually lousy with examples of underwater ghost towns and dissapearing communities. Read on to learn more about these remarkable places that have been wiped off the map.
LocalWiki Commons/vielmetti
Rawsonville was once located near modern-day Ypsilanti Charter Township, and was a thriving village during the 1830s. However, when the community failed to create a successful railroad service in the 1880s, the town began to decline. It was eventually drowned by the French Landing dam in 1925, and today Rawsonville sits beneath the surface of Belleville Lake.
Wikimedia Commons
Currently partially covered by Route 190 in Point Coupee Parish, Elliot City was once a thriving 19th century town. The community was always under constant threat of flooding, which makes its eventual demise due to the construction of the Moranza Spillway sadly fitting. The town was flooded in 1925, and only one structure remains unsubmerged.
Flickr/Andrew Filer
The story of Sanish is a sad once. Once the ancestral land of the Three Affiliated Tribes, the Native groups of this region were forced to take a mere $7 million settlement for the destruction of their town by the construction of the Garrison Dam. In addition, they were not allowed use of the land bordering the new Lake Sakakawea, which actually has more shoreline than California. Today, only one structure remains above water.
Todd Awbrey/Flickr
The town of Old Linn Creek was completely covered by water by the damming of the Osage River in the 1920s. Founded in 1941, the town was once a steamboat hub and center of trade. Today, all that remains above the water is the local cemetery.
- Arkansas: Monte Ne
Flickr/MRHSFan
Flickr/MRHSFan Once a planned resort community, Monte Ne is now a popular fishing spot. The town was submerged by Beaver Lake in 1964, after the resort went bankrupt. Today, the underwater amphitheater at Monte Ne can still be seen.
- Maryland: Holland Island
Flickr / baldeaglebluff
thediagonal.com Holland Island is slowly sinking into the Chesapeake Bay. Once home to around 300 residents, the small island succumbed to erosion little by little until only one structure was left above the water. In 2010, the last home finally collapsed after a brutal hurricane.
Flickr/MRHSFan
Once a planned resort community, Monte Ne is now a popular fishing spot. The town was submerged by Beaver Lake in 1964, after the resort went bankrupt. Today, the underwater amphitheater at Monte Ne can still be seen.
Flickr / baldeaglebluff
thediagonal.com
Holland Island is slowly sinking into the Chesapeake Bay. Once home to around 300 residents, the small island succumbed to erosion little by little until only one structure was left above the water. In 2010, the last home finally collapsed after a brutal hurricane.
YouTube/zeekzilch
The town of Kane began life as a railroad shipping hub in 1912. Located just 12 miles east of Lovell, Kane’s ferry was once the only way to cross the Bighorn River. When the Yellowtail Dam was built in 1965, Kane was completely flooded. Today, the town is decaying beneath the water.
Virginia State Parks/flickr
JustinJett/YouTube
Supposedly located beneath Smith Mountain Lake, the history of the town of Monroe is a bit of a mystery. Some don’t believe that the town ever existed, but most think the 19th-century community was submerged by the construction of the Smith Mountain Lake dam. Today, divers regularly hunt for signs that the old town really did exist.
YouTube/Stuffthatsgone
In 1946, the town of Somerfield was flooded to make way for the Young Dam. Every once in a while, the water level in the dam becomes low enough that glimpses of this underwater ghost town can be seen. The historic 1818 US 40 bridge is one such rarely seen landmark.
Scott Rensberger/YouTube
Monument City was once located near present-day Huntington County. The town was only home to about 30 residents, and in 1965, Monument City was buried beneath the waves of the Salamonie Reservoir. However, a severe drought in 2012 revealed many of the original structures of the underwater ghost town.
- Texas: Bluffton
Flickr/reliantfc3
Flickr/reliantfc3 Beneath the serene waters of Lake Buchanan, the historic ghost town of Bluffton is silently rotting. The town has been underwater since 1937, but droughts occasionally reveal graves, human skulls, rudimentary tools, and even a cemetery for freed slaves.
- Kentucky: Birmingham
Vistavision
Flickr/reliantfc3
Beneath the serene waters of Lake Buchanan, the historic ghost town of Bluffton is silently rotting. The town has been underwater since 1937, but droughts occasionally reveal graves, human skulls, rudimentary tools, and even a cemetery for freed slaves.
Vistavision
The town of Birmingham had its heyday in the in the mid-1800s, when it was home to 322 people and did a bustling trade in shipping poultry, hickory nuts, and rabbits. In 1938, the town was flooded by the dam that created Kentucky lake. Today, some old building foundations can be seen when the water level drops.
- Idaho: American Falls
Courtesy of Patty Pickett
Flickr/Courtesy of Patty Pickett American Falls was once a thriving community of more than 60 businesses and 350 residents. In 1925, the town was actually moved piece by piece on specially-designed flats. Today, the remarkable remnants of the now-flooded town peek out once in a while when the water level dips.
- Nevada: St. Thomas
Flickr / Lake Mead NRA Public Affairs
Photo Credit
James Marvin Phelps/flickr Above, you can see a salvage crew rafting through the town of St. Thomas near the ruins of a building as Lake Mead begins to rise above it in June 1938. Founded in 1865, this town was a Mormon settlement that was drowned by the construction of the Hoover Dam. Today, the remnants of the town can be seen when the waters of the lake recede.
- California: Mormon Island
mormon island folsom recreation Beneath the waters of the Folsom Lake Reservoir rest the remains of Mormon Island.
Courtesy of Patty Pickett
Flickr/Courtesy of Patty Pickett
American Falls was once a thriving community of more than 60 businesses and 350 residents. In 1925, the town was actually moved piece by piece on specially-designed flats. Today, the remarkable remnants of the now-flooded town peek out once in a while when the water level dips.
Flickr / Lake Mead NRA Public Affairs
Photo Credit
James Marvin Phelps/flickr
Above, you can see a salvage crew rafting through the town of St. Thomas near the ruins of a building as Lake Mead begins to rise above it in June 1938. Founded in 1865, this town was a Mormon settlement that was drowned by the construction of the Hoover Dam. Today, the remnants of the town can be seen when the waters of the lake recede.
mormon island folsom recreation
Beneath the waters of the Folsom Lake Reservoir rest the remains of Mormon Island.
This gold rush town was submerged by the creation of the Folsom Lake Reservoir in 1955. Founded in 1848 as a Mormon community, the island town was once home to over 2,500 residents. Recent archaeological finds in the area, including old masonry and personal belongings, have shed new light on the history of this drowned city.
Did you know about any of these forgotten towns around the U.S.? Do you know of any other long lost towns? Let us know!
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