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West Bayou

Ghost town · Arkansas County, Arkansas

Goldman quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1941, 1:62,500)
Goldman quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1941, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

West Bayou is a ghost town in Arkansas County, Arkansas. It is one of 14 former communities in Arkansas County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 13th among the 74 Arkansas counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists West Bayou as a historical populated place on the Humphrey SW 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 34.2784° N, 91.6912° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleHumphrey SW
Elevation180 ft
Nearest living townWabbaseka, AR
Distance to it8.1 miles
GNIS feature ID63884
Coordinates34.27843, -91.69124

Open the location on a map

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.

West Bayou today, aerial view
Goldman quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1941, 1:62,500)

Left: Goldman quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1941, 1:62,500), 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

West Bayou is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Wabbaseka, AR (population 391), about 8.1 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 180 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

Questions

Where is West Bayou?

West Bayou is in Arkansas County, Arkansas, at 34.2784, -91.6912.

How many ghost towns are in Arkansas County?

Arkansas County, Arkansas has 14 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.