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Hydesburg

Ghost town · Ralls County, Missouri

Hannibal quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1932, 1:62,500)
Hannibal quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1932, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Hydesburg is a ghost town in Ralls County, Missouri, recorded as human settlement in United States of America. It is one of 3 former communities in Ralls County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 73rd among the 102 Missouri counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Hydesburg as a historical populated place on the Hannibal West 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 39.6764° N, 91.4672° W.

In old newspapers

The earliest digitized newspaper pages printed in Missouri before 1931 that mention “Hydesburg”, from the Library of Congress. A page may use the name for something else; open it to read the context. 163 pages in all.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleHannibal West
Elevation720 ft
Nearest living townRensselaer, MO
Distance to it3.9 miles
GNIS feature ID754980
Coordinates39.67639, -91.46724

Open the location on a map

Then and now

Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Hydesburg today, aerial view
Hannibal quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1932, 1:62,500)

Left: Hannibal quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1932, 1:62,500), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.

What's there now

Hydesburg is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Rensselaer, MO (population 262), about 3.9 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 720 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Hydesburg?

Hydesburg is in Ralls County, Missouri, at 39.6764, -91.4672.

How many ghost towns are in Ralls County?

Ralls County, Missouri has 3 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 2026-11-06.