Ricks
Ghost town · Cherokee County, Alabama

Ricks is a ghost town in Cherokee County, Alabama. It is one of 13 former communities in Cherokee County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 12th among the 53 Alabama counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Ricks as a historical populated place on the Weisner Mountain 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 34.0590° N, 85.6836° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Weisner Mountain |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 597 ft |
| Nearest living town | Centre, AL |
| Distance to it | 6.5 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 136966 |
| Coordinates | 34.05899, -85.68358 |
Then and now
Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Left: Weisner Mountain quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1967, 1:24,000), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.
What's there now
Ricks is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Centre, AL (population 3,664), about 6.5 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 597 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Colomaghost town · Cherokee County · 3.9 mi
- Monaghost town · Cherokee County · 5.1 mi
- Turkey Townghost town · Cherokee County · 5.4 mi
- Bannerghost town · Etowah County · 6.4 mi
- Collinsghost town · Calhoun County · 7.2 mi
- Goshenghost town · Calhoun County · 7.9 mi
- Haleghost town · Etowah County · 8.6 mi
- Coato Bendghost town · Etowah County · 9.3 mi
- Kings Hillghost town · Cherokee County · 9.3 mi
- Old Goshen Centerghost town · Calhoun County · 9.4 mi
- Ireneghost town · Calhoun County · 10.5 mi
- Oak Hillghost town · Etowah County · 10.8 mi
Questions
Where is Ricks?
Ricks is in Cherokee County, Alabama, at 34.0590, -85.6836.
How many ghost towns are in Cherokee County?
Cherokee County, Alabama has 13 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.