Ghosts of North Dakota
North Dakota’s Ghost Towns and Abandoned Places Volume Three
by Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp
Haymarsh, North Dakota
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Crystal Springs, North Dakota
D
uring a decade of exploring North Dakota’s shrinking places, a common storyline has emerged, and it’s a story that stretches beyond the borders of North Dakota to include much of the American west. The turning points in the story unreel like beats in a familiar Hollywood screenplay -- a town, bypassed by the freeway, slowly dries up as a school closes, a church is shuttered and families move away. It is much rarer to see an abandonment created by an interstate highway that came too close, but that’s exactly what happened in Crystal Springs, North Dakota. The small community was split down the middle by Interstate 94, a development which contributed to the eventual abandonment of properties on both sides of the highway. South of the freeway, two of Crystal Springs’ most impressive structures are crumbling and abandoned -- a former church and an imposing school. If you’ve driven eastbound from Bismarck to Jamestown, you’ve probably seen the school standing alongside Interstate 94, windows broken out, with “No Trespassing” signs posted on the door.
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The Pastime Bar (left) also houses a fabulous steakhouse in the rear with incredible food. We had steaks and crab cakes. We visited on a Saturday night and there was a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of area residents, catching up on the week’s happenings. 30
An abandoned service station.
We rented rooms in this old railroad bunkhouse for fifteen bucks, on the honor system. Just put your money in the envelope on the dining room table.
Marmarth’s first jail cells.
Sanger, North Dakota
We arrived in Sanger right in the middle of a cattle drive.
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anger, North Dakota is located on the west bank of the mighty Missouri River, not far from Washburn. It has been abandoned, then reinhabited on more than one occasion. We first visited in 2004 and found it vacant, a true ghost town. When we returned in 2013, two men, Ron and Dan, were living in Sanger and refurbishing some of the properties. They told us the building shown above was known as the County House, a stopping point for horse and carriage travelers in the days when a trip from Minot to Bismarck was a two day journey.
Fortuna AFS is an extremely dangerous place to explore. Weathering has taken a toll on most of the structures and you’re never quite sure if your next step will land on solid flooring. We even encountered a place where pranksters had set an apparent trap. A platform was removed from a walkway on the other side of a closed door (right), so if you were to move through too quickly, or in the dark, one errant step would send you plunging four or five stories. For the most part, Terry and I stayed within sight of one another as a safety measure as we explored this facility.
If things go the wrong way, follow the steps painted on the wall.
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See you on
the road