Wayfarrow

Frenchtown

Ghost town · Pennington County, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1954, 1:24,000)
Mount Rushmore quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1954, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Frenchtown is a ghost town in Pennington County, South Dakota. It is one of 15 former communities in Pennington County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 2nd among the 26 South Dakota counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Frenchtown as a historical populated place on the Mount Rushmore 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 43.8875° N, 103.3824° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleMount Rushmore
Elevation4,398 ft
Nearest living townKeystone, SD
Distance to it2.3 miles
GNIS feature ID1264594
Coordinates43.88749, -103.38241

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Frenchtown is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Keystone, SD (population 404), about 2.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 4,398 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Frenchtown?

Frenchtown is in Pennington County, South Dakota, at 43.8875, -103.3824.

How many ghost towns are in Pennington County?

Pennington County, South Dakota has 15 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.