Ardmore, South Dakota
Encyclopedia
Ardmore is a ghost town
in Fall River County
, South Dakota
, United States
. The town was founded in 1889. In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge
stopped in Ardmore. The town survived the Great Depression
without one family on welfare. Rough times eventually fell on Ardmore, and by 2004 it was an isolated ghost town. The last time the town had a recorded population when the 1980 census
showed a population of 16 residents.
The town is believed to be named after Dora Moore, a local teacher and is at an elevation of 3,556 feet.
Ardmore was featured in the May 2004 issue of National Geographic Magazine
.
The ghost town is located approximately one mile across the South Dakota
-Nebraska
border along South Dakota State Highway 71. It is located next to a stretch of BNSF railroad.
There are approximately 15-25 abandoned houses at the site. The town sign is still standing.
Among its former residents was the outlaw Doc Middleton
.
Ardmore celebrated a reunion on September 4th, 2010 at the Ardmore Volunteer Fire Department.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in Fall River County
Fall River County, South Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,453 people, 3,127 households, and 1,976 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile . There were 3,812 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The town was founded in 1889. In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
stopped in Ardmore. The town survived the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
without one family on welfare. Rough times eventually fell on Ardmore, and by 2004 it was an isolated ghost town. The last time the town had a recorded population when the 1980 census
United States Census, 1980
The Twentieth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 Census.-Census questions:...
showed a population of 16 residents.
The town is believed to be named after Dora Moore, a local teacher and is at an elevation of 3,556 feet.
Ardmore was featured in the May 2004 issue of National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic, formerly the National Geographic Magazine, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded...
.
The ghost town is located approximately one mile across the South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
-Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
border along South Dakota State Highway 71. It is located next to a stretch of BNSF railroad.
There are approximately 15-25 abandoned houses at the site. The town sign is still standing.
Among its former residents was the outlaw Doc Middleton
Doc Middleton
James M. Riley was an outlaw and horse thief, whose exploits of stealing perhaps 2,000 horses over a two-year period earned a spot in the Wild West Show.Riley was born in...
.
Ardmore celebrated a reunion on September 4th, 2010 at the Ardmore Volunteer Fire Department.