Radium is a ghost town

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 section 19 of Comstock Township, Marshall County

Marshall County, Minnesota

Marshall County is a county located in the U.S. State of Minnesota. In 2010, the population was 9,439. It's county seat is Warren.-Geography:...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It was built alongside the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad

Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad

The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwest U.S. Commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was merged with several other major CP subsidiaries on January 1, 1961 to form the...

 (Soo Line Railroad

Soo Line Railroad

The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...

) branch line built in 1905 from Thief River Falls, Minnesota

Thief River Falls, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,410 people, 3,619 households, and 2,091 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,760.0 people per square mile . There were 3,931 housing units at an average density of 822.7 per square mile...

, to Kenmare, North Dakota

Kenmare, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,081 people, 468 households, and 278 families residing in the city. The population density was 872.8 people per square mile . There were 553 housing units at an average density of 446.5 per square mile...

. (This line still operates under the aegis of the Northern Plains Railroad

Northern Plains Railroad

The Northern Plains Railroad is a short line railroad that operates over 344 miles of track in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota and the northern U.S...

.) The place was named for the element radium, which was discovered nearby in 1902. Radium had its own post office from 1905 to 1984. Since 1984, Radium has been served by the post office in Warren

Warren, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,678 people, 699 households, and 432 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,174.1 people per square mile . There were 785 housing units at an average density of 549.3 per square mile...

. It is also on the Warren telephone exchange and part of the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo school district. The townsite is being slowly reclaimed for use as farmland. There is still a large grain elevator

Grain elevator

A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...

 on the railroad line south of the townsite. A small Lutheran church 1 miles south of the town antedates the coming of the railroad; Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...

) was organized in 1897.