The town of Sims ND has been abandoned for quite some time, which means there have been no official recorded residents for absolute years. Of course, no one living, that is. Little do most folks know, there may still be someone – or something – lingering there, who has possibly been there since 1918. The town itself sits abandoned nowadays as one of the creepiest abandoned places in North Dakota that only numbered 1,200 residents at its peak. It’s easily one of the eeriest ghost towns in North Dakota, so naturally, we’re going to investigate!

Here you can garner a broad understanding of what is actually left of Sims, North Dakota. It's not much.
Andrew Filer/flickr
The town was founded in 1883 in Morton County. It began as a coal town and blossomed into a large city with over 1,000 residents. But only a few decades later, that number had plummeted to a mere 86. By 1947 the post office had closed and the last remaining residents dwindled down to nothing in the following years.
The last remaining structures are a beautiful Scandinavian Lutheran Church, which is still in use for people outside of the town, and its parsonage.
minnemom/Flickr
Keep in mind if you visit, that the church is said to be haunted by, "The Gray Lady of Sims."
This old house is the other last structure, crumbling to the forces of nature over time.
minnemom/Flickr

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At some point, these stairs led somewhere. Now they stand alone. There's simply no building left.
minnemom/Flickr
As one of the best known ghost towns in North Dakota, you're bound to meet folks that know old stories about the town. It's a lonely place with a history that pre-dates North Dakota's statehood.
Beyond the empty, eerie feeling you may get in this town, there is something in the parsonage that could make anyone decide to hightail it out of there.
minnemom/Flickr
The parsonage is well known to be home to a spirit who refuses to leave. That spirit is known as The Gray Lady, and she has been haunting Sims for a century. She originally lived as the minister's wife in the early 1900s. By 1915, she had died from illnesses within the parsonage. In 1930, a preacher at the church left the parsonage because of the hauntings he was experiencing - and he wasn't the only one. The townspeople went as far as contacting a local bishop asking for him to come to their church and see if he could do something about this spirit. People reported seeing her wandering the church and even playing the organ at random. The second floor of the parsonage - where she lived - had windows that would open and close on their own. One man said he even spoke to her, and no one in the town doubted him.
Today, the entire town is abandoned, but signs of the ghost remain.
Andrew Filer/Flickr
Not many people come in or out of the Sims anymore, and not many want to. With the Gray Lady still haunting the place, you may want to steer clear...who knows who (or what?!) you'll run into in this North Dakota ghost town.

Have you ever heard of the Gray Lady in the creepiest abandoned town in North Dakota, or had a similar experience somewhere else? What’s your favorite ghost town to visit in North Dakota?

If you’re into ghost hunting, maybe you’ve heard of these seven urban legends in North Dakota. We don’t recommend reading them before you go to bed – you might just have to leave your lights on!

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Sims ND

Meghan Kraft | September 28, 2019

What other abandoned places are there in North Dakota?

Shockingly enough, there are quite a few abandoned and perhaps even haunted places in the state of North Dakota. The Sims Church and Parsonage, of course, as well as the San Haven Sanatorium, the State Hospital for the Insane in Jamestown and the towns of Alkabo and Ambrose.

Are there any hiking trails to abandoned places in North Dakota?

There aren't really any options for hiking to abandoned places in North Dakota, unfortunately. On the bright side? Most places are accessible by car!

What ghost towns can you find in North Dakota?

North Dakota is the home to quite a few ghost towns. It's as if the state took a bit of pride in abandoning some of the lesser-known places to the supernatural, leaving towns like Arena, Carbury and Wheelock to crumble into the ether. If you haven't been, we'd recommend driving trips to Omemee and Temple, when the weather is good. They make for eerie sights and fascinating ghost towns in North Dakota.

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