7 Louisiana Ghost Towns

Ghost towns have always captured people's imaginations. Louisiana has quite a few of them, and many are closer than you might think.

Louisiana Ghost Towns

When you think of ghost towns, you probably think about old gold and coal mining towns out west, but we actually, have quite a few scattered throughout Louisiana.

In fact there are reportedly seventeen ghost towns in Louisiana.

Some of these Louisiana ghost towns have a lot of information about them, how they came to be settled, how they came to be ghost towns, and much more.

Others have very little information available, like only what Parish they're located in.

What technically defines a ghost town?

Merriam-Webster defines a ghost town as "a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource."

Without any further ado, let's take a look at eight Louisiana ghost towns.

Burrwood, Louisiana

Burrwood was a community located near the far south end of the delta of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish. An estimated population of 1,000 once inhabited the community. Most of the territory is now fully or partially submerged by coastal erosion.

Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation, Louisiana

Laurel Valley Plantation was the site of a 2,000-acre sugar mill and plantation back in the 1910s and 20s. It had housing for the workers, and even a school/church. "Eerie" scenes from the movie Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro, were filmed here. The plantation closed in 1926.

Morrisonville, Louisiana

Morrisonville was a small town located in Iberville Parish. It was founded by former slaves, freed from a plantation near Plaquemine, in the 1870s. The town was contaminated with industrial pollution from a nearby Dow Chemical Company vinyl chloride factory. The town's residents were relocated in 1990.

Ruddock, Louisiana

Ruddock is a ghost town in St. John the Baptist Parish. Although the town was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, as of 2011, it is still signed as an exit on I-55, and on La. state highway maps. The town has since become overgrown with vegetation, and all that is left of the town is the rotted wood from buildings.

Taft, Louisiana

Taft is a ghost town located in St. Charles Parish. According to the 2000 Census, there were zero people living in the town of Taft. Virtually all of the land is now zoned as heavy industrial. It was the original site of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, which was built in 1887, and moved to Hahnville in 1963. The cemetery left behind is still used as a burial ground for the church, surrounded on three sides by the Dow chemical facilities.

Alma, Louisiana

Alma was a community located in southeastern Pointe Coupee Parish. The area is currently home to Pointe Coupee Parish's only operating sugar mill. It just so happens to be one of only 11 sugar mills still operating in Louisiana.

Albany, Louisiana

Albany is a ghost town located in Caddo Parish. When referring to themselves it is believed that they said they were Albanian.