Most People Have Long Forgotten About This Vacant Ghost Town In Rural North Dakota
By Tori Jane|Published October 11, 2021
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
North Dakota sure seems like a ghostly place. After all, it feels like there are more ghost towns around here than living ones; certainly, some of them are more forgotten than others. Many are so forgotten that even their names are lost to history, but in many, plenty still remains in some way or another, offering a glimpse into a past otherwise long gone. One such town is the town of Griffin, which is nestled in Bowman County. This ghost town in North Dakota is made even more intriguing by its history… or really, lack thereof.
From what we know about Griffin, it was a town originally known as Atkinson in or around 1900.
On February 10, 1908, Atkinson changed its name to Griffin in honor of the assistant general passenger agent of the Milwaukee Railroad, which went right through town.
If there's anything Griffin had at one point, it was stockyards - a ton and a half of them.
In fact, the stockyards here were the largest ones in the entire county. By 1911, Griffin had a lumber yard, some grain elevators, and a general store.
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There were a few homes, though they were few and far between.
Some of them still stand today, and though the structures are much too dilapidated and worn-out to explore inside, they certainly are a sight to behold from the outside.
It's a fascinating and eerie feeling to wander around what remains today; it's easy to wonder who lived here, what their lives were like, and where they ended up. Plenty of them probably have ancestors scattered around North Dakota to this day, though who knows if anyone remembers a great-great-grandparent who grew up in Griffin.
Griffin - or what's left of it - can be found along Highway 12, six miles east of Rhame and seven miles west of Bowman.
So, what do you think? Do you remember this interesting old ghost town in North Dakota? Tell us any stories you might have in the comments! Need some more creepy North Dakota in your life? You might want to try out this awesome creepy day trip!
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