Decay

"On our drive back to Colorado from South Dakota we decided to take the long route and go through the black hills and then down through Wyoming. Right after we got into Wyoming, on this little two lane highway, there was a traffic jam going off into the horizon. Everyone was out of their car and after some discussion we decided to backtrack and find another ""creative"" route. We ended up on dirt roads and literally in the middle of nowhere (it probably added like 4 hours to the drive). But it might have been worth it, because we stumbled upon the almost totally deserted town of Ardmore, SD. As we approached I could see the rusty old water tower and I had my suspicion that it would be pretty empty, but it was almost a total ghost town. It was super spooky, it felt like a Stephen King novel. Ardmore is a town in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. The town was founded in 1889. In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge stopped in Ardmore. The town survived the Great Depression without one family on welfare. Rough times eventually fell on Ardmore, and by 2004 it was an isolated ghost town. The last time the town had a recorded population when the 1980 census showed a population of 16 residents. The town is believed to be named after Dora Moore, a local teacher and is at an elevation of 3,556 feet. Among its former residents was the outlaw Doc Middleton."