Ethel
Ghost town · Roane County, Tennessee

Ethel is a ghost town in Roane County, Tennessee. It is one of 11 former communities in Roane County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 22nd among the 86 Tennessee counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Ethel as a historical populated place on the Bethel Valley 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 35.9804° N, 84.3341° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Bethel Valley |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 797 ft |
| Nearest living town | Oak Ridge, TN |
| Distance to it | 2.6 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 1310416 |
| Coordinates | 35.98036, -84.33409 |
What's there now
Ethel is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Oak Ridge, TN (population 32,088), about 2.6 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 797 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Bearghost town · Roane County · 2.4 mi
- Wheatghost town · Roane County · 3.7 mi
- Leedomghost town · Anderson County · 3.9 mi
- Selkirkghost town · Roane County · 5.5 mi
- Fairviewghost town · Anderson County · 7 mi
- Vancouverghost town · Loudon County · 8.3 mi
- Whetstoneghost town · Morgan County · 9.5 mi
- Clinch Riverghost town · Anderson County · 10 mi
- Crookedforkghost town · Morgan County · 11.2 mi
- Fork Mountainghost town · Anderson County · 11.2 mi
- Budghost town · Anderson County · 11.7 mi
- Kinkaidghost town · Knox County · 14.4 mi
Questions
Where is Ethel?
Ethel is in Roane County, Tennessee, at 35.9804, -84.3341.
How many ghost towns are in Roane County?
Roane County, Tennessee has 11 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names) — GNIS Domestic Names, feature record (public-domain)
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)
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.