Wayfarrow

Shepard

Ghost town · Union County, Iowa

Arispe quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1981, 1:24,000)
Arispe quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1981, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Shepard is a ghost town in Union County, Iowa. It is one of 3 former communities in Union County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 26th among the 79 Iowa counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Shepard as a historical populated place on the Arispe 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 40.9903° N, 94.1541° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleArispe
Elevation1,159 ft
Nearest living townAfton, IA
Distance to it3.4 miles
GNIS feature ID464293
Coordinates40.99027, -94.15412

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Shepard is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Afton, IA (population 991), about 3.4 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 1,159 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Shepard?

Shepard is in Union County, Iowa, at 40.9903, -94.1541.

How many ghost towns are in Union County?

Union County, Iowa 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.