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Gaines Ford

Ghost town · Maries County, Missouri

Vienna quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1937, 1:62,500)
Vienna quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1937, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Gaines Ford is a ghost town in Maries County, Missouri. It is one of 5 former communities in Maries County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 44th among the 102 Missouri counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Gaines Ford as a historical populated place on the Nagogami Lodge topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 38.0600° N, 91.8927° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleNagogami Lodge
Elevation628 ft
Nearest living townDoolittle, MO
Distance to it8.2 miles
GNIS feature ID740863
Coordinates38.06004, -91.89266

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What's there now

Gaines Ford is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Doolittle, MO (population 579), about 8.2 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 628 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Gaines Ford?

Gaines Ford is in Maries County, Missouri, at 38.0600, -91.8927.

How many ghost towns are in Maries County?

Maries County, Missouri has 5 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.