Carolina Ghost Towns

Pinckneyville

Pinckneyville was a town in Union County, South Carolina.  The town was established in the 1790s as the seat of Pinckneyville District.  It was envisioned as the "Charleston of the Upstate."  When Pinckney District was divided into smaller districts, the courthouse was moved to Union.  Pinckneyville started to die out.
National Register Listing
Pinckney District on Carolana
Wikipedia
Research Pinboard
AI Voices by Eleven Labs

Cataloochee

The Cataloochee Valley is a remote area in Western North Carolina, now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It was never really a town, but is included on most lists of Ghost Towns in North Carolina.
Cataloochee:  Center of the World - National Park Service Video
NPS Cataloochee Basin
Cataloochee Reunion
Serena, by Ron Rash
Research Pinboard
AI Voices by Eleven Labs

UPDATE: Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene has not been kind to us.  Here's a quick update on what to expect over the next few weeks.

Auraria

The town of Auraria was the site of the first gold rush in Georgia.  It was a boom town on a mountain ridge, but died out as the nearby town of Dahlonega grew more prominent.
Auraria : the story of a Georgia gold-mining town / E. Merton Coulter
Etowah River Mine Tunnel Trip

Taphophiles

This is an episode from an old podcast series that I started some years ago.  It's about old cemeteries and headstones, which often are the only remnants left of a ghost town.  Here's a link to the original blog post...
The Stone Carvers

Hamburg

Hamburg was a city in South Carolina on the Savannah River, across from Augusta.  It was the terminus of the Charleston to Hamburg Railroad, the first regular passenger service in the US.
Henry Schulz and His Town of Hamburg
The Untold Story of Hamburg, SC
Prince Rivers
AI Voices by Eleven Labs

The Ghosts of Ebenezer

Ebenezer was one of the first settlements in the Georgia Colony.  Displaced Salzburgers from Austria traveled to the new world and settled on a tributary of the Savannah River.  It was also the site of a terrible tragedy during Sherman's March to the Sea.
Links:
Old Ebenezer
Wikipedia Entry
Betrayal at Ebenezer
Johann Martin Boltzius
Georgia Salzburger Society
Paddling trips
Cypress Adventures
Lowcountry Unfiltered does Ebenezer Creek

Ghost Town in the Sky and other Fake Ghost Towns

This episode is a departure from our normal ghost town explorations.  In today's episode we look at fake ghost towns, specifically, western amusement parks that are now defunct.  The parks covered in today's episode include Tweetsie Railroad (still going strong), Ghost Town in the Sky, Rebel Railroad, Frontierland, and Echo Valley.
Blog posts about Echo Valley:
Memories of Echo Valley
Even More Echo Valley
Echo Valley Photographic Proof

Chappells

The ghost town of Chappells is located in the southwest corner of Newberry County, South Carolina.  The town was first known as Chappell's Ferry, then Chappell's Depot, then just Chappells.  When the new Highway 39 bridge over the Saluda River was built, it bypassed the main street of the town, dooming the remaining businesses.
Blog posts:
Exploring Chappels
The Sad Fate of Chappells
More on Chappells
Return to Chappells
Farmer's Bank of Chappells
Chappells Depot
Chappells Ruins

Phoenix

The community of Phoenix in Greenwood County, South Carolina was the site of an election riot in 1898.  The riot pitted black citizens who wished to vote against the white citizens and Jim Crow era laws.
Blog post
Benjamin Mays Site