Wisconsin holds 203 documented abandoned places on the Urbex Maps atlas -- a count that reflects the state's diverse economic history: the lead and zinc mining district of the southwest, the timber industry of the north, the dairy farming economy that replaced it, the industrial manufacturing of Milwaukee and the Lake Michigan corridor, and the institutional infrastructure built to serve a population whose health, mental health, and military needs required the large campuses that the late 19th and early 20th centuries specialized in building. When those industries and institutions contracted, they left behind the characteristic abandonment landscape of the upper Midwest.
Wisconsin's most photogenic abandoned places divide between the isolated lighthouses of the Great Lakes shore -- the Apostle Islands lighthouses on Lake Superior, the Door County lighthouses on Lake Michigan -- and the industrial ghost towns of the mining and manufacturing eras. Fayette Historic Townsite on the Upper Peninsula's Garden Peninsula is the most complete surviving iron smelting ghost town in the Great Lakes region. The Badger Army Ammunition Plant in Sauk County is one of the most significant Cold War military-industrial ruins in the Midwest. The Milwaukee Soldiers Home complex contains one of the finest Victorian-era veterans' campus buildings in the country.
This guide covers 10 of the most significant abandoned places in Wisconsin, with free GPS coordinates on the Urbex Maps interactive atlas, verified YouTube embeds, and factual historical context.
Free urbex GPS: how Urbex Maps works
Every spot in this guide has a free GPS pin on the Urbex Maps interactive atlas. No account required -- just coordinates with satellite imagery and access notes. The full Wisconsin database has 203 documented locations, covering lighthouse ruins, industrial ghost towns, military surplus facilities, asylum campuses, and abandoned mining districts.
1. Holy Hill (Former Seminary Ruins), Hubertus
Holy Hill in Hubertus, Washington County, rises on the highest drumlin in southeastern Wisconsin -- a glacially formed hill that stands dramatically above the surrounding landscape and has drawn Catholic pilgrimage since the 19th century. The National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians on Holy Hill was established by the Discalced Carmelite Friars and is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the Midwest. The twin spires of the neo-Romanesque basilica are visible for miles across the kettle moraine landscape.
What makes Holy Hill relevant to the urbex atlas is not the active shrine but the ruins of a larger proposed seminary complex that was planned but never fully completed in the early 20th century. The Carmelites began construction of a seminary campus adjacent to the shrine that would have accommodated the training of priests for the regional church. Economic constraints and shifting institutional priorities led to the abandonment of portions of this building program before completion; the ruined or incompletely constructed sections of the seminary infrastructure sit adjacent to the active shrine complex.
The Holy Hill pilgrimage site is publicly accessible; the shrine basilica is open daily. The ruins of the uncompleted seminary construction are on the property and accessible within the grounds.
2. Pendarvis Mining District, Mineral Point
Pendarvis in Mineral Point is the most complete surviving example of a Cornish miner settlement in the United States -- a collection of stone and log cabins built by Cornish immigrants who came to the Wisconsin lead mining district in the 1820s and 1830s, bringing with them the mining skills and vernacular building traditions of Cornwall, England. Mineral Point was the center of the Wisconsin lead rush, which preceded the California gold rush by two decades as America's first major mineral extraction fever.
The Cornish miners who came to Wisconsin built in the way they knew from home: limestone walls, sod roofs in some cases, and the characteristic low-ceilinged architecture of a working-class mining culture. The settlement at Pendarvis -- on Shake Rag Street, so named for the custom of wives shaking rags to call miners home from the diggings -- preserved a small group of these buildings into the 20th century.
Robert Neal and Edgar Hellum began restoring the Pendarvis cabins beginning in 1935, creating one of the first historic preservation projects in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Historical Society eventually acquired and expanded the site; Pendarvis is now a Wisconsin State Historical Site open for guided tours.
3. Tiffany Ghost Town, Dunn County
Tiffany in Dunn County is a rare example of a Wisconsin river valley ghost town -- a community that grew up around a flour mill and sawmill on the Red Cedar River in the mid-19th century and was subsequently abandoned when the timber that fed the mill was exhausted and the agricultural economy shifted. The Tiffany area was settled in the 1850s and grew to include a mill complex, a hotel, a store, and the scattered farmsteads of the surrounding agricultural community. The timber in the Red Cedar watershed was cut over by the 1880s and 1890s, the mill lost its economic reason for existing, and the community dispersed.
The Tiffany area is now part of the Tiffany Wildlife Area -- a DNR-managed conservation area in the Red Cedar and Chippewa River bottomlands that preserves the floodplain forest and wetland habitat of the lower Red Cedar. The abandoned townsite and mill foundations are within the wildlife area, accessible to hikers and canoeists who explore the Red Cedar corridor.
The lower Red Cedar River is a designated canoe route and one of the most scenic flatwater paddle trips in western Wisconsin. The Tiffany bottomland forest in spring -- when the river floods across the floodplain and the cottonwoods are leafing out -- is one of the more spectacular inland landscapes in the upper Midwest.
4. Milwaukee Soldiers Home (Old Main), Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Soldiers Home -- officially the Northwestern Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers -- is one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic institutional architecture in the Midwest, a campus established in 1867 to care for veterans of the Civil War. The Old Main building (1869), designed by Edward Townsend Mix, is a three-story brick Gothic Revival structure with towers, dormers, and Gothic arch windows that was the centerpiece of a campus designed to provide dignity and comfort to disabled veterans.
The Milwaukee campus was one of the first and most ambitious of the post-Civil War veterans' homes, setting the standard for the other branches of the National Home system established across the country in the 1870s. The campus design -- Old Main flanked by gothic chapel, hospital, and residential buildings in a landscaped park setting -- reflected the nation's commitment to honoring the men who had fought to preserve the Union.
The campus became the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in the 20th century and remains an active VA facility. Old Main was closed for decades and faced potential demolition before a restoration project rescued the building in the 2010s, converting it to housing for homeless veterans. The restoration was completed in 2016 and the building is now in active residential use within the VA campus.
5. Badger Army Ammunition Plant, Baraboo
The Badger Army Ammunition Plant in Sauk County is one of the largest abandoned military-industrial complexes in the Midwest -- a 7,350-acre facility built in 1942 to produce double-base propellant (smokeless powder) for artillery ammunition and later rocket propellant for the Cold War missile program. Badger employed 12,000 workers at its World War II peak and operated intermittently through the Cold War, reactivating for the Korean War and Vietnam War before its final closure in 1975.
The scale of the TNT and nitrocellulose contamination from 33 years of production made Badger one of the most significant environmental remediation sites in Wisconsin. The EPA listed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1990.
Portions of the property have been transferred to the Ho-Chunk Nation, to the US Fish and Wildlife Service as the Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area, and to other agencies. Some production buildings and bunkers remain standing on portions of the site not yet remediated or transferred. The Badger complex is one of the clearest examples in the Midwest of the scale and environmental cost of 20th-century military-industrial production.
6. Northern Hospital for the Insane (Winnebago), Oshkosh
The Northern Hospital for the Insane in Oshkosh -- now the Winnebago Mental Health Institute -- is one of the oldest continuously operating psychiatric facilities in Wisconsin, established in 1873 on the shore of Lake Winnebago as the state's second mental hospital. The original building was a substantial Italianate brick structure of the type typical of mid-Victorian institutional construction; subsequent expansions through the late 19th and early 20th centuries added Victorian-era brick dormitories, a powerhouse, and the colony farm buildings that characterize the expanded Wisconsin psychiatric campus.
The facility transitioned through the 20th century from a large custodial institution to a more specialized mental health treatment center. The state-operated Winnebago Mental Health Institute continues operating on a portion of the original campus, while the older historical buildings -- including structures dating from the 1870s through the early 20th century -- have been closed and are in various states of vacancy.
The Winnebago campus on the Lake Winnebago shore in Oshkosh preserves a significant collection of late 19th and early 20th century institutional architecture that documents the evolution of Wisconsin psychiatric care over 150 years.
7. Fayette Historic State Park (Ghost Town), Garden
Fayette Historic Townsite on the Garden Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula -- accessible via a day trip from Wisconsin's Upper Michigan border -- is the most complete surviving example of a Great Lakes iron smelting ghost town: a community of 500 people that grew up around an iron furnace operation from 1867 to 1891 and was completely abandoned when the furnace closed, leaving behind an intact townsite that the state of Michigan has managed as a historic park since 1959.
The Jackson Iron Company built the Fayette furnace to take advantage of the location's natural resources: iron ore from the Upper Peninsula mines, limestone from the Garden Peninsula cliffs, and abundant hardwood charcoal fuel from the surrounding forest. The Snail Shell Harbor provided a sheltered anchorage for the lake schooners. When the charcoal-fired furnace technology was superseded by coke-fired processes, the Jackson Iron Company simply walked away from the town.
Fayette Historic State Park preserves approximately 20 original structures in various states of conservation, making it one of the most authentic ghost town experiences in the Great Lakes region.
8. St. Nazianz Historic District, Manitowoc County
St. Nazianz in Manitowoc County is one of the most unusual communities in Wisconsin -- a village established in 1854 by Father Ambrose Oschwald, a German Catholic priest who led a group of approximately 100 German Catholic families to Wisconsin to establish a religious utopian community. The community was organized as a celibate religious colony in which members surrendered their property to the common. The colony lasted from 1854 until Oschwald's death in 1873, after which the celibate organization dissolved and the community became a conventional Catholic village.
What makes St. Nazianz a unique heritage site is the survival of significant 19th-century institutional architecture from the colony period: the original colony buildings, the church, and structures associated with the Salvatorian Fathers who took over the site and established a seminary complex that operated through much of the 20th century before closing.
The village of St. Nazianz has a small permanent population and the historic structures are in various states of preservation. The community's combination of religious utopian origins, 19th-century institutional architecture, and rural Manitowoc County setting makes it one of the more historically unusual small places in Wisconsin.
9. Cana Island Lighthouse, Door County
Cana Island Lighthouse in Door County stands on a small island connected to the mainland by a stone causeway and has been one of the most photographed lighthouses on the Great Lakes since it was built in 1869. The lighthouse marks a critical navigation point on the Lake Michigan shore of the Door Peninsula. The original 60-foot white lighthouse tower and brick keeper's dwelling are intact and accessible.
The lighthouse was automated in 1944 and the Door County Maritime Museum acquired the property and operates it as a heritage site, offering tours and maintaining the buildings in their historic condition. The keeper's dwelling is particularly well preserved -- the domestic scale of the lighthouse keeper's life, the furniture, the logbooks, and the equipment are all present.
Cana Island is accessible via a causeway that is sometimes passable on foot and sometimes requires wading, depending on lake levels. The combination of the island setting, the intact 1869 lighthouse, the stone causeway approach, and the Lake Michigan views makes Cana Island one of the most visited heritage sites in Door County. It is also cited in our 50 States, 50 Iconic Urbex Spots guide.
10. Michigan Island Lighthouse, Apostle Islands
Michigan Island in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior hosts one of the most historically significant lighthouse complexes in the Great Lakes -- two lighthouses on the same island. The first Michigan Island Lighthouse was built in 1857 as a conical masonry tower, one of the original Apostle Islands lighthouses. It was supplemented in 1929 by a second lighthouse on a skeletal iron tower that now serves as the active aid to navigation, while the original 1857 structure stands as a preserved historic landmark.
The Apostle Islands are accessible only by boat, and Michigan Island is one of the more remote of the 22 islands in the national lakeshore. The National Park Service manages the lighthouse complex and offers ranger-led boat tours to Michigan Island during the summer season.
Lake Superior's extreme climate -- ice coverage from December through April, storms that have claimed hundreds of ships -- gives the Apostle Islands lighthouses a historical weight that warmer-water lighthouses lack. The Michigan Island light guided ships through some of the most dangerous waters of the Great Lakes trade route.
FAQ
Is Holy Hill open to visitors?
Yes. Holy Hill National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians is open year-round as an active Catholic pilgrimage site. The basilica, outdoor Stations of the Cross, and grounds are accessible to the public. The shrine is managed by the Discalced Carmelite Friars and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
Can you visit Fayette Historic State Park?
Yes. Fayette Historic State Park is on the Garden Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, approximately 17 miles south of Garden, Michigan. The park is open from mid-May through early October. An entrance fee is required. The preserved ghost town buildings and the Snail Shell Harbor setting make it one of the finest historic parks in the Great Lakes region.
Is the Badger Army Ammunition Plant accessible?
The remediated portions of the former plant are accessible as the Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area, managed by the Wisconsin DNR. The active remediation areas are not open to the public.
What happened to the Milwaukee Soldiers Home Old Main building?
Old Main was closed for decades and threatened with demolition before a restoration project in the 2010s converted the building to housing for homeless veterans. The restoration was completed in 2016.
How do you get to Cana Island Lighthouse?
Cana Island is accessible via a stone causeway from the mainland at Cana Island Road in Door County. Depending on lake levels, the causeway may be passable on foot or may require wading up to knee depth. The Door County Maritime Museum manages the site; a fee is charged for entry.
What is the best time to visit the Apostle Islands lighthouses?
The Apostle Islands are most accessible from late June through September, when the National Park Service runs concession boat tours from Bayfield. Michigan Island tours are offered on a scheduled basis; check the NPS website for the current season's boat tour schedule.
Conclusion
Wisconsin's 203 documented abandoned places range from Lake Superior's remote lighthouse islands to the Cornish mining district of the lead-mining southwest, from the Cold War ammunition plant in Sauk County to the Victorian veterans' home in Milwaukee. Free GPS coordinates for all 10 sites are on the interactive atlas.
Explore more abandoned places in the US
- ●Abandoned Places in Michigan: 10 Iconic Urbex Spots
- ●Abandoned Places in Illinois: 10 Iconic Urbex Spots
- ●Abandoned Places in Indiana: 10 Iconic Urbex Spots
- ●Abandoned Places in West Virginia: 10 Iconic Urbex Spots
- ●Ghost Towns USA: 20 Iconic Places
- ●Abandoned Places USA: 50 States, 50 Iconic Urbex Spots
