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Cardenas

Ghost town · Wake County, North Carolina

Fuquay-Varina quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1974, 1:24,000)
Fuquay-Varina quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1974, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Cardenas is a ghost town in Wake County, North Carolina. It is one of 4 former communities in Wake County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 20th among the 48 North Carolina counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Cardenas as a historical populated place on the Fuquay-Varina 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 35.5938° N, 78.7742° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleFuquay-Varina
Elevation416 ft
Nearest living townFuquay-Varina, NC
Distance to it0.2 miles
GNIS feature ID1951532
Coordinates35.59377, -78.77418

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What's there now

Cardenas is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Fuquay-Varina, NC (population 37,749), about 0.2 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 416 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Cardenas?

Cardenas is in Wake County, North Carolina, at 35.5938, -78.7742.

How many ghost towns are in Wake County?

Wake County, North Carolina has 4 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.