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Dempsey

Ghost town · Bannock County, Idaho

Bancroft quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1948, 1:62,500)
Bancroft quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1948, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Dempsey is a ghost town in Bannock County, Idaho. It is one of 2 former communities in Bannock County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 20th among the 36 Idaho counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Dempsey as a historical populated place on the Sedgwick Peak 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 42.6235° N, 111.9947° W.

In old newspapers

The earliest digitized newspaper pages printed in Idaho before 1931 that mention “Dempsey”, from the Library of Congress. A page may use the name for something else; open it to read the context. 2,809 pages in all.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleSedgwick Peak
Nearest living townLava Hot Springs, ID
Distance to it0.8 miles
GNIS feature ID399477
Coordinates42.62353, -111.99468

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Dempsey is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Lava Hot Springs, ID (population 251), about 0.8 miles away in a straight line. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Dempsey?

Dempsey is in Bannock County, Idaho, at 42.6235, -111.9947.

How many ghost towns are in Bannock County?

Bannock County, Idaho has 2 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.