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Writer's pictureSusan Whitcher

Buckhorn, IA -- Iowa's Forgotten Ghost Town

Updated: Sep 8, 2019

Most people have long forgotten this Ghost Town in Buckhorn, IA. What once was a busy little town, just a few miles west of Maquoketa, is now just the remains of what is left. Buckhorn still has a few abandoned buildings and a church. The view will take your breath away.



I heard about this place but had never been there. Being it was only a 30 minute drive from home, I decided one sunny afternoon, that it was worth the trip. So I packed up my kids and we drove from our hometown of Dubuque on Highway 61. When we hit Maquoketa we took the exit ramp, took a right and less than 10 minutes later, we were finally there.


It was a lot smaller than I had expected. I heard it was this abandoned town so I thought there would be a lot more buildings. When we first arrived we saw the church on the corner. It looked like it had been abandoned for many years. But the church itself seemed to be in good condition. About 100 yards away we saw the old creamery building.



So much of it has fallen in. Bricks and wood were everywhere. There was a lot of graffiti on the walls, both inside and outside. We saw someone spray painted "How do you get upstairs?" Ironic because there is no way to get to the upstairs, as most of the building has fallen in. It would probably be pretty dangerous if there still was a way to the second level. I enjoyed the visit. It was fascinating and yet creepy at the same time.




We came upon this chair in the inside. I immediately had to take a picture. It had so much texture within it. It looked like it had been torn apart by the animals and the weather. If this chair could talk, it would probably have so many stories. One can only imagine what it would say.


- Susan Elizabeth


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