Editing Ghost town (section)

=== Human intervention and infrastructures ===
[[File:Famagusta-Varosha 2007.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|Prior to the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] in 1974, [[Varosha, Famagusta|Varosha]], now falling into ruin, was a modern tourist area.]]

Railroads and roads bypassing or no longer reaching a town can also create a ghost town. This was the case in many of the ghost towns along Ontario's historic [[Opeongo Line]], and along [[U.S. Route 66]] after motorists bypassed the latter on the faster moving highways [[Interstate 44|I-44]] and [[Interstate 40|I-40]]. Some ghost towns were founded along railways where [[steam train]]s would stop at periodic intervals for repairs or to take on water, but [[dieselization]] or [[rail electrification|electrification]] negated the need for the trains to stop. [[Amboy, California]], was part of one such series of villages along the [[Atlantic and Pacific Railroad]] across the [[Mojave Desert]]. In other cases, railroads replaced rivers or [[canal]]s as the primary means of overland transport, causing the decline of towns that depended on river or canal traffic; one such town was [[Granville, Indiana]], located on the [[Wabash and Erie Canal]]. 

River re-routing is another factor, one example being the towns along the [[Aral Sea]].

Ghost towns may be created when land is [[eminent domain|expropriated]] by a government, and residents are required to relocate. One example is the village of [[Tyneham]] in Dorset, England, acquired during World War II to build an artillery range.

A similar situation occurred in the U.S. when [[NASA]] acquired land to construct the [[John C. Stennis Space Center]] (SSC), a rocket testing facility in [[Hancock County, Mississippi]] (on the Mississippi side of the [[Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana)|Pearl River]], which is the [[Mississippi]]–[[Louisiana]] state line). This required NASA to acquire a large (approximately {{convert|34|sqmi|adj=on|disp=or}}) [[buffer zone]] because of the loud noise and potential dangers associated with testing such rockets. Five thinly populated rural Mississippi communities (Gainesville, Logtown, Napoleon, Santa Rosa, and Westonia), plus the northern portion of a sixth ([[Pearlington, Mississippi|Pearlington]]), along with 700 families in residence, had to be completely relocated away from the facility.

[[File:Akarmaraghosttown.jpg|thumb|[[Akarmara]], a [[mining town]] in Abkhazia/Georgia, was abandoned in the early 1990s due to the [[War in Abkhazia (1992–93)|War in Abkhazia]].]]
Sometimes the town might cease to officially exist, but the physical infrastructure remains. For example, the five Mississippi communities that had to be abandoned to build SSC still have remnants of those communities within the facility itself. These include city streets, now overgrown with forest flora and fauna, and a one-room schoolhouse. Another example of infrastructure remaining is the former town of [[Weston, DuPage County, Illinois|Weston, Illinois]], that voted itself out of existence and turned the land over for construction of the [[Fermilab|Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory]]. Many houses and even a few barns remain, used for housing visiting scientists and storing maintenance equipment, while roads that used to cross through the site have been blocked off at the edges of the property, with gatehouses or barricades to prevent unsupervised access.

====Flooding by dams====
Construction of dams has produced ghost towns that have been left underwater. Examples include:
* [[Kensico, New York]] was replaced by the [[Kensico Reservoir]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Halpern |first=W. Dyer |date=2011-01-24 |title=The Lost Village of Kensico |url=https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/the-lost-village-of-kensico/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Westchester Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Loyston, Tennessee]], U.S., inundated by the creation of [[Norris Dam]] and reconstructed on nearby higher ground.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Watts |first1=Jennifer |title=Underwater Ghost Towns of Tennessee |url=https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/underwater-ghost-towns-of-tennessee |website=Tennessee State Museum |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[St. Thomas, Nevada]], U.S., flooded by up to 70 feet of water by [[Lake Mead]] following construction of the [[Hoover Dam]].<ref>{{cite web |title=St Thomas Nevada - Lake Mead National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/lake/learn/nature/st-thomas-nevada.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[Stiltner, West Virginia]], inundated by the creation of [[East Lynn Lake]] in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Robert |title=The Lost Town of Stiltner |url=https://www.herald-dispatch.com/wcn/wc_news/the-lost-town-of-stiltner/article_9f834abc-d8d6-503c-8abe-8bb6a9c387f8.html |website=The Wayne County News |accessdate=30 May 2019}}</ref>
* [[The Lost Villages]] of [[Ontario]], flooded by [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] construction in 1958.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wheeler |first1=Maggie |title=The Lost Villages |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-lost-villages |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[Nether Hambleton]] and [[Middle Hambleton]] in Rutland, England, which were flooded to create [[Rutland Water]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hambleton, Upper Hambleton, Middle Hambleton, Nether Hambleton |url=https://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/Rutland/Hambleton/53286f79b47fc40c0d000400-Hambleton%2C+Upper+Hambleton%2C+Middle+Hambleton%2C+Nether+Hambleton |website=Survey of English Place-Names |publisher=English Place-Name Society |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[Ashopton]] and [[Derwent, Derbyshire|Derwent]], England, flooded during the construction of the [[Ladybower Reservoir]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=York |first1=Chris |title=Two Lost Derbyshire Villages Have Been revealed By Low Water Levels At Ladybower Reservoir |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/derwent-derbyshire_uk_5befe523e4b07573881ece57 |website=HuffPost UK News |date=17 November 2018 |publisher=Huffington Post |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ladybower |url=https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/visiting/miles-without-stiles/ladybower |website=Peak District National Park |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* The [[Tignes Dam]] flooded the village of Tignes in France, displacing 78 families.<ref>{{cite web |title=Village Destroyed as New Dam Floods Reservoir |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA436HY83AJ25IFMIA88LM67F2B-VILLAGE-DESTROYED-AS-NEW-DAM-FLOODS-RESERVOIR/query/Tignes |website=British Pathe |publisher=Reuters |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[Mologa]] in Russia was flooded by the creation of [[Rybinsk reservoir]] in 1940.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mandraud|first=Isabelle|date=30 Jan 2015|title=Sunken towns of the Volga revive memories of Stalinist-era Russia|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/30/mologa-russia-flooded-rybinsk-reservoir-dam}}</ref> 
* Many ancient villages were abandoned during construction of the [[Three Gorges Dam]] in China, leading to the displacement of many rural people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Three Gorges Dam |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Three-Gorges-Dam |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |publisher=Britannica |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* In [[Guanacaste Province]], Costa Rica, inhabitants of Arenal and Tronadora were forced to relocate in 1978 to make room for the human-made [[Lake Arenal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=La Nacion Costa Rica |url=https://lanacioncostarica.pressreader.com/article/281496460663685 |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=lanacioncostarica.pressreader.com}}</ref>
* [[Old Adaminaby]] in New South Wales, Australia, was flooded by a dam of the [[Snowy River Scheme]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elder |first1=Bruce |title=A Complete Guide to Adaminaby, NSW |url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2022/12/a-complete-guide-to-adaminaby-nsw/ |website=Australian Geographic |date=9 December 2022 |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* Construction of the [[Aswan Dam|Aswan High Dam]] on the [[Nile River]] in Egypt submerged archaeological sites and ancient settlements, such as [[Buhen]] under [[Lake Nasser]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harford |first1=Tim |title=The Spectacular Failures and Successes of Massive Dams |work=BBC News |date=11 March 2020 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51459930 |access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[Tehri]] was drowned after the construction of the [[Tehri Dam]] in the Indian state of [[Uttarakhand]].<ref>{{cite web |title=New Tehri - Overlooks The Gigantic Tehri Lake And Dam {{!}} Uttarakhand Tourism |url=https://uttarakhandtourism.gov.in/destination/new-tehri |website=Uttarakhand Tourism}}</ref>
* [[Aceredo]] and five other villages in the region of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], Spain, drowned by the construction of [[Alto Lindoso Dam]] downstream in Portugal in 1992<ref name="Pontevedra 2012">{{cite news  | last=Pontevedra | first=Silvia R. | title=Memoria de un pueblo ahogado | website=[[El País]] | date=14 December 2012 | url=https://elpais.com/sociedad/2012/12/14/actualidad/1355517771_214178.html | language=es | access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref> (later exposed after extreme drought conditions in early 2022<ref>{{cite web | title=Ghost village emerges in Spain as drought empties reservoir | website=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 February 2022 |agency=Reuters |location=Concello de Lobios |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/ghost-village-emerges-in-spain-as-drought-empties-reservoir-aceredo | access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Butterfield | first=Michelle | title=Incredible photos show Spanish ghost village emerge after 30 years underwater  | website=Global News | date=18 February 2022 | url=https://globalnews.ca/news/8628758/ghost-village-spain-drought-reservoir-aceredo/ | access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref>).
* [[Capel Celyn]], Gwynedd, Wales, was lost to the [[Tryweryn flooding|Trywern Flooding]] of 1965. This was to create a reservoir, [[Llyn Celyn]], in order to supply the English areas of [[Liverpool]] and [[Wirral Peninsula|Wirral]] with water for industry.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-10-21 |title=Tryweryn: Personal stories 50 years after drowning |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-34528336 |access-date=2024-10-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Dana, Massachusetts|Dana]], [[Enfield, Massachusetts|Enfield]], [[Greenwich, Massachusetts|Greenwich]], and [[Prescott, Massachusetts|Prescott]], Massachusetts; four towns in the [[Quabbin–Swift River Valley|Swift River Valley]] of Massachusetts who were flooded to create the [[Quabbin Reservoir]] in 1938 to create a water reservoir to provide water to the growing city of [[Boston]], Massachusetts and the surrounding suburbs. <ref>{{Cite web |title=The Harvard Advocate |url=https://theharvardadvocate.com/content/drowned-towns-preserving-the-lost-communities-of-the-swift-river-valley |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=theharvardadvocate.com}}</ref>