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Gowansville

Ghost town · Pope County, Illinois

Golconda quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1916, 1:62,500)
Golconda quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1916, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Gowansville is a ghost town in Pope County, Illinois. It is one of 2 former communities in Pope County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 41st among the 78 Illinois counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Gowansville as a historical populated place on the Shetlerville 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 37.4420° N, 88.4778° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleShetlerville
Elevation443 ft
Nearest living townGolconda, IL
Distance to it5.5 miles
GNIS feature ID1736119
Coordinates37.44200, -88.47782

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Gowansville is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Golconda, IL (population 755), about 5.5 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 443 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Gowansville?

Gowansville is in Pope County, Illinois, at 37.4420, -88.4778.

How many ghost towns are in Pope County?

Pope County, Illinois 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.