Paper Towns

Instead of towns that disappeared, today we look at towns that never existed. Through my research I’ve found four categories of these so-called Paper Towns

1. A town planned out on paper that never really took off.
2. A town that was never meant to exist, but was advertised simply as a scam for investors.
3. An area incorporated for political reasons, such as a town on the edge of a larger town incorporated to prevent annexation into the larger town. The town provides no services, but exists on paper only.
4. A copyright trap.

Links to more information:

• Kingsberry
  • Find-a-Grave
  • Kingsberry article by Louise Pettus
  • Landsford Canal Lock Keeper's House - Library of Congress
• Paper Town Copyright Traps
  • Phantom Settlements
  • What Is a Paper Town?