This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Massachusetts. Ghost towns can include sites in various states of disrepair and abandonment. Some sites no longer have any trace of civilization and have reverted to pasture land or empty fields. Other sites are unpopulated but still have standing buildings. Some sites may even have a sizable, though small population, but there are far fewer citizens than in its grander historic past.
Classification
Barren site
Sites no longer in existence
Sites that have been destroyed
Covered with water
Reverted to pasture
May have a few difficult to find foundations/footings at most
Neglected site
Only rubble left
All buildings uninhabited
Roofless building ruins
Some buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless
Abandoned site
Building or houses still standing
Buildings and houses all abandoned
No population, except caretaker
Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings, for example old church, grocery store
Semi-abandoned site
Building or houses still standing
Buildings and houses largely abandoned
Few residents
Many abandoned buildings
Small population
Historic community
Building or houses still standing
Still a busy community
Smaller than its boom years
Population has decreased dramatically, to one fifth or less.
Long Point, also known as Provincetown, was built on a narrow and isolated peninsula on the far end of Cape Cod,[1] and the isolated geography cut the town off from access to freshwater[2] and made it extremely vulnerable to ocean storms.[3]
Haywardville, a mill town established in the mid-19th century. By 1870 it was deep in decline. In 1894 it was turned into a park and would become Middlesex Fells Reservation.[4]