These 66 East Texas Towns Are Now Considered ‘Ghost Towns’

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East Texas is full of life. There are bustling towns and communities dotting the landscape as citizens go about their business shopping and supporting local businesses to keep their slice of heaven alive. If locals aren't supporting their local businesses there's a possibility that their town could eventually become a ghost town. It may take some time, but it could happen.

Evidence of this can be found throughout East Texas because the region is home to many towns that have become 'ghost towns'. As residents leave their little town in search of better opportunities in bigger cities and populated areas, the small town they once called home, is all of a sudden a ghost town.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, settlers began to build a life in rural areas of East Texas, they created communities and added schools and businesses but for some reason or another, the population moved away. Whether it be that the railroad missed the town the industry that once thrived there shut down or a war the nation was fighting changed the landscape and makeup of these towns, they no longer exist on a Texas map.

East Texas Ghost Towns

Among the towns that once thrived in East Texas these are now considered ghost towns according to Texas Escapes:

Atoy in Cherokee County
Baxter in Henderson County
Beck's Chapel in Henderson County
Bethany in Panola County
Bethel in Anderson County
Birthright in Hopkins County
Black Ankle in San Augustin County
Bogus Springs in Cass County
Bois D'Arc in Anderson County
Boxwood in Upshur County
Buffalo in Henderson County
Bulah in Cherokee County
Burning Bush in Smith County
Calloway in Upshur County
Catfish in Henderson County
Camden in Gregg County
Carroll Springs in Henderson County
Centennial in Panola County
Center Point in Camp County
Centerville in Henderson County
Chickenfeather in Rusk County
Coffeeville in Upshur County
Coke in Wood County
Comet in Marion County
Craft in Cherokee County
Denmark in Anderson County
Danville in Gregg County
Dialville in Cherokee County
Dillon in Hopkins County
Drusilla in Wood County
Earle's Chapel in Cherokee County
Eureka in Franklin County
Fastrill in Cherokee County
Footes in Gregg County
Fort Houston in Anderson County
Gent in Cherokee County
Gould in Cherokee County
Grand Bluff in Panola County
Grayrock in Franklin County
Greggton in Gregg County
Griffin in Cherokee County
Holcomb Store in Cherokee County
Hopewell in Smith County
Horace in Upshur County
Ioni in Anderson County
Iron Bridge in Gregg County
Irwin in Rusk County
Java in Cherokee County
Kellyville in Marion County
Kelsey in Upshur County
Kickapoo in Anderson County
Larissa in Cherokee County
Lawsonville in Rusk County
Linwood in Cherokee County
Little Hope in Wood County
Lone Star in Cherokee County
Magnolia in Anderson County
Manila in Cherokee County
Mutt and Jeff in Wood County
Omega in Gregg County
Pine Town in Cherokee County
Red Rock in Upshur County
Science Hill in Henderson County
Tallys in Harrison County
Thedford in Smith County
Utica in Smith County

These towns had history. Many of them are simply considered a community these days by a few people. There may be an old school, store, or building of some kind still standing among the trees or a cemetery that once marked the site of where a busy town once stood. For more history on these ghost towns check out Texas Escapes.