Defining a ghost town

The following is a google search for the definition of Ghost Town. Please note an 1870-1875 definition as it pertained to the culture of the time. 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?rd=1&word=ghost+town

 

ghost town n. A once thriving town, especially a boomtown of the American West, that has been completely abandoned.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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ghost town

n

a deserted town, esp one in the western US that was formerly a boom town

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

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ghost′ town` 
n.

a town permanently abandoned by its inhabitants, as because of a business decline or because a nearby mine has been worked out.

[1870–75]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Thesaurus Legend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun

1.

ghost town - a deserted settlement (especially in western United States) town - an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city; "they drive through town on their way to work" western United States, West - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

Ghost Towns originally posted 10.07.13

http://villageofthehomeless.blogspot.com/2013/10/ghost-towns.html

"Marysville, NE (Seward County)postal and trade routes changed and settlement abandoned. Left is church and cemetery. (www.roadsidethoughts.com; www.ghosttowns.com)

Richland, KS (Wikipedia; www.kansasmemory.org) 

One more city not on the map but an honorable mention; Nicodemus, Kansas. Mrs. Wilder goes on to mention how many colored people they were seeing in Kansas. One city, that they did not pass by is Nicodemus. It is one of the longest surviving African-American originated cities in America. Currently no one lives there on a permanent basis. However, reunion festivals are held for former residents. There is a book about the city titled "Going Home to Nicodemus"

P.S. 

I google mapped Nicodemus and Beatrice Kansas. Nicodemus is Way Out of the way; too far west from the road they took."