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Gurney

Ghost town · Cass County, Illinois

Virginia quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1932, 1:62,500)
Virginia quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1932, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Gurney is a ghost town in Cass County, Illinois, recorded as human settlement in Cass County, Illinois, United States of America. It is one of 3 former communities in Cass County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 26th among the 78 Illinois counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Gurney as a historical populated place on the Ashland 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 39.8992° N, 90.0501° W.

In old newspapers

The earliest digitized newspaper pages printed in Illinois before 1931 that mention “Gurney”, from the Library of Congress. A page may use the name for something else; open it to read the context. 1,728 pages in all.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleAshland
Elevation628 ft
Nearest living townAshland, IL
Distance to it2.4 miles
GNIS feature ID422767
Coordinates39.89922, -90.05011

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Gurney is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Ashland, IL (population 1,001), about 2.4 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 628 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Gurney?

Gurney is in Cass County, Illinois, at 39.8992, -90.0501.

How many ghost towns are in Cass County?

Cass County, Illinois has 3 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.