There are so many abandoned places in Wisconsin! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Wisconsin. Browse through all abandoned places in Wisconsin
Delhi is a former town established from the trading activities that were carried out in the area. The town was also used by the Indians as a burial ground. Delhi which sprawled in the midst of the 19th century was later deserted.
The town of Delhi was founded by a French man from Canada known as Luke La Borde in 1848. Luke purchased a 140 acres piece of land and subdivided it into equal measurements. This was according to the survey done on the land on July 17th, 1849. Streets such as Water, Union, Grand, and many others were paved and marked. Due to these developments, Delhi was a favorite trading post for many Indians and residents from Eureka and Omro. A bridge was later established by Luke La Borde that connected traders to the grist mills in Waukau. In great regards, the town also developed a schoolhouse, a hotel room, and a bar. The growing of hops and their pressing was done in Delhi town and later shipped to Oshkosh and Milwaukee. Later in the years, a dock was established in the area from where steamboats stood on a regular basis to bring in traders and mail. On top of being a trading town, it was also used as a burial ground for the native Indians.
Delhi town was slowly deserted by its residents and later abandoned. The abandoning of the townsite was due to the shifting of trading activities to Ormo and Eureka. The moving of the trading activities in these new towns was after better bridges were built in the latter towns opening new and better trading opportunities. The reason that drove the last nail on the existence of Delhi was the construction of the railroad in Ormo and Eureka which could not be afforded by residents in Delhi. Residents in Delhi town relocated to neighboring towns. Luke La Borde the founder of the town together with his wife died later and were buried on their property in the town.
Luke La Borde and his wife's burial building is the only building that is still standing to this day. Years of disuse have deprived the building making it weak and unstable. These and many other factors can turn out to be detrimental if one is not cautious. Pottery, beads, guns, copper, and other artifacts were discovered in the region after the two neighboring towns were all deserted. Oshkosh Public Museum was constructed in the area and the management is currently the owners of the historic artifacts. The townsite was declared a historic place and it allows tours and visits at any given time.
The town of Ceresco (Wisconsin Phalanx) was established by a communist who spread socialist ideas all over the United States. Unlike the former mining towns that boomed with a population exceeding 900 people, Ceresco town started with a small population of 150 loyal followers. Ceresco town was abandoned by the year 1850 to date.
Ceresco was dormant most of its early years until a determined activist Chase Warren, a Southport resident, joined Franklin in the spreading of the Fourier system to the residents. With determination and hope of reaching new levels with the sermon, Warren organized the drafting of the constitution to guide the loyal residents. With the true heart of an activist, he made sure that the newly drafted constitution was distributed among the residents in the area. Within a few years to the arrival of Warren, an election (first ever election) was held.
Shortly after the election, major sales of the land were made under the condition that the members were not to build permanent structures on the piece of land. The strict rules and regulations however did not discourage buyers and investors who bought 1844 had settled in the land. Several petitions regarding the ban of permanent structures were revisited and the first permanent structure was built in 1945. The increasing population led to the land's future subdivision into agricultural, mechanical, and residential areas.
The residents in Ceresco engaged themselves in farming activities planting crops like tur, nips, potatoes, and buckwheat. Life was never individual but communal in the town. Though farms might have been individually owned, farm produce was shared selflessly by the locals. Cooking and eating were also done at once in one kitchen and eating table. Materials used to build the houses were mostly limestone but there were some minor temporary tents and log cabins that were used to host visitors. In terms of religion, the town was an all religious community with frequent church services, bible studies, and Sunday school. Social crimes like stealing, gambling, drinks trafficking, and others were highly prohibited.
The Fourierist movement began facing national decline resulting in slow campaigns in Ceresco. The population in the town began to reduce day by day as most of the residents opted out. In 1848, only 29 families were residing in the town. The town was fully deserted by 1849 and the lands were donated to poor families in and near the town. Wisconsin State Legislature who were high in support of the gesture merged the Ceresco villages and Ripon town naming the new village as Morena. Today, there are no signs of ever existence of the town. However various old maps show the whole region as in the heydays.
Pendarvis ghost town was founded by early Cornish immigrants' miners as a mining community. The ghost town, which is located in Iowa County, Wisconsin, was once a hotspot for lead mining and is now a museum dedicated to Wisconsin's early lead mining heritage.
After lead and zinc resources were discovered throughout a large area of Iowa County, Pendarvis was developed in the early 1930s. As a result, many individuals from all over the world flocked to take advantage of the wealth. The population and communities in the area would grow as a result of this. Among the towns were Galena, Platteville, Mineral Point, and Pendarvis. The largest of the four boomtowns, Pendarvis, with a population of over 4000 people. Pendarvis, unlike other communities that specialized in lead mining, mined both zinc and lead.
Nothing lasts forever, as the adage goes. Mining activity in the area, like those in other boomtowns, began to collapse in the 1920s. Many people moved to other towns in search of greener pastures. The major material mined in the area was lead, and its depletion was the first to drive roughly three-quarters of the inhabitants out when business declined. Zinc mining, on the other hand, continued after the initial flight, but it was short-lived. By 1830, Pendarvis had become a ghost town, with no substantial business or government activities going in the town.
The town's structures were renovated by two men (Robert Neil and Edgar Hellum) who spotted the potential of the abandoned townsite. They were able to refurbish the Cornish building and transform it into a restaurant with the limited funds they had. The restaurant was a great help in raising additional funds to totally rebuild the village. The building was controlled by the two invested residents for many years until 1970, when the townsite and its building were handed to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
In place of the once-famous Pendarvis town, the Pendarvis Historic Site now exists. The state of Wisconsin formally purchased it and now has entire control over it. It was only a year after it was bought that it was made available to the general public. The majority of the structures are in good shape and have been kept in their original state. The townsite and mines are all managed by the Wisconsin Historical Society, which has preserved mining tools, artifacts, and other relevant historic objects that the miners left behind. These, and many other exhibits, are available to visitors on a tour of the townsite. The mines are closed due to their unstable nature and safety concerns, but pictures from when they were active can be viewed at the museum located on the historic site.