WayfarrowIrondale
Ghost town · Cook County, Illinois
Irondale is a ghost town in Cook County, Illinois. It is one of 6 former communities in Cook County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 7th among the 78 Illinois counties with a vanished settlement on record.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Irondale as a historical populated place on the Lake Calumet 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 41.6959° N, 87.5403° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Lake Calumet |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 586 ft |
| Nearest living town | Whiting, IN |
| Distance to it | 3.3 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 428568 |
| Coordinates | 41.69587, -87.54032 |
What's there now
Irondale is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Whiting, IN (population 4,554), about 3.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 586 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Lightlighthouse · Lake County · 5.2 mi
- 68th Street Crib Lightlighthouse · Cook County · 6.3 mi
- Robert Taylor Homesghost town · Cook County · 9.2 mi
- Stateway Gardensghost town · Cook County · 10.3 mi
- Four Mile Crib Lightlighthouse · Cook County · 12.3 mi
- Chicago Harbor Lightlighthouse · Cook County · 13.6 mi
- Chicago Harbor Southeast Guidewall Lightlighthouse · Cook County · 13.7 mi
- William E. Dever Crib Lightlighthouse · Cook County · 16.4 mi
- Mount Forestghost town · Cook County · 16.7 mi
- Wilson Avenue Crib Lightlighthouse · Cook County · 18.9 mi
- Lincoln Squareghost town · Cook County · 20.8 mi
- Crown Point Bridge, Indianacovered bridge · Lake County · 22 mi
Questions
Where is Irondale?
Irondale is in Cook County, Illinois, at 41.6959, -87.5403.
How many ghost towns are in Cook County?
Cook County, Illinois has 6 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.