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Every place in the Hidden Current catalog, filterable by category and by whether you can lawfully go there.
Filter by category, or by access if you are trying to find places you can actually walk into. Every page states access first, and a closed site carries no directions.
Showing 21 of 98 places.
Times Beach, MissouriTimes Beach was a Route 66 town in Missouri that was abandoned after contaminated waste oil sprayed on its dirt roads caused a major dioxin disaster. After a 1982 flood spread the contamination, the government bought out the town.
Town Burning Underground, PennsylvaniaA town in Pennsylvania that has been burning underground since 1962.
The Town Hidden Beneath The LakeOscarville, Georgia is known online as the town beneath Lake Lanier. The video says the real history differs from that legend: the area was part of the 1912 expulsion of Black residents from Forsyth County, and only part of it was later covered by the reservoir.
Picher, Oklahoma: The Mining Town Its Own Mines DestroyedPicher, Oklahoma mined the lead and zinc that helped arm America. The mining left the town poisoned and undermined, and by 2009 it had shut down for good.
Hibbing, Minnesota: The Town That Moved for an Iron MineWhen iron ore turned up under Hibbing, Minnesota, the mining company moved the town. From 1919, houses and stores rolled south on wheels and logs.
Bidwell's Bar: The Gold Rush Town Under Lake OrovilleBidwell's Bar was one of the first Gold Rush camps in California. Its site now lies under Lake Oroville, and its 1850s bridge was moved to higher ground.
Quabbin Reservoir: The Four Towns Massachusetts ErasedIn 1938, Massachusetts dissolved four towns and moved 7,613 graves to build the Quabbin Reservoir. Their old roads now lie under water and in the woods.
Zion's Reformed Church: The Liberty Bell's Secret Hiding PlaceIn 1777, as the British closed in on Philadelphia, patriots hid the Liberty Bell beneath the floor of Zion's Reformed Church in Allentown for nine months.
Bingham Canyon Mine: The Copper Pit That Swallowed Its TownsAs Utah's Bingham Canyon Mine grew into the largest human-made excavation on Earth, it swallowed the towns around it. Only Copperton is left standing.
Rhyolite, Nevada: The Gold Rush Boomtown That Emptied in a DecadeRhyolite boomed after a 1904 gold strike near Death Valley, then emptied within a decade. Its bank ruins and a house of bottles still stand in the desert.
Safeguard Complex: North Dakota's Cold War Missile PyramidNorth Dakota's Safeguard Complex and its radar pyramid were built to stop Soviet warheads. Fully operational in October 1975, it shut down in 1976.
Kennecott, Alaska: The Copper Town Left Standing in the MountainsKennecott, Alaska was a copper town deep in the Wrangell Mountains. When the mines closed in 1938, the last train left and the town was left standing.
Butler, Tennessee: The Town That Wouldn't DrownBefore the TVA flooded the valley in 1948, Butler, Tennessee moved to higher ground. The old town's streets and foundations still lie under Watauga Lake.
Adak, Alaska: The Aleutian Navy Town Left Behind After 1997Adak, Alaska grew from a 1942 airfield into a Navy base of 6,000 people in the Aleutians. After it closed in 1997, most of the town was left empty.
Thurmond: The Town Where the Railroad Was Main StreetThurmond, West Virginia, was a busy C&O railroad hub in the New River Gorge whose businesses faced tracks, not a street. Only 5 people live there today.
Hanford & White Bluffs: The Towns Erased for the BombHanford and White Bluffs were Columbia River farm towns emptied in 1943 for the Manhattan Project. Plutonium made there fueled the Nagasaki bomb.
The Radium Girls of Ottawa, IllinoisIn Ottawa, Illinois, Radium Dial workers painted glowing dials and shaped brushes with their lips. Told the paint was safe, they swallowed radium.
Gilman: Colorado’s Cliffside Toxic Ghost TownGilman, Colorado clings to a cliff 600 feet above the Eagle River. Its zinc and lead mine closed in 1984, and the town has stood empty ever since.
Jackrabbit Homesteads: The Mojave’s Abandoned CabinsWonder Valley near Twentynine Palms is dotted with jackrabbit homestead cabins built on five-acre lots under the 1938 Small Tract Act. Many sit abandoned.
Love Canal: The Neighborhood Built on Toxic WasteLove Canal in Niagara Falls, NY, held 21,800 tons of buried chemical waste beneath a school and near homes. The crisis helped spur the 1980 Superfund law.
Treece: The Kansas Town Left Behind at the State LineTreece, Kansas sat in the same toxic mining district as Picher, Oklahoma. After an EPA buyout cleared it out, Kansas dissolved the town in April 2012.