Doveland, Wisconsin
Did a small town really pull a vanishing act?
Obscure geography and limited population can make some small towns tough to pinpoint on a map. Don't bother consulting a map of Wisconsin, however, the next time you’re aching to plan a sightseeing trip to Doveland.
You can't find a town that doesn’t exist.
This little fact hasn't stopped some Wisconsin residents from insisting Doveland once existed. Tales chronicling the town all claim it vanished from the heart of Wisconsin during the 1990s without leaving behind any meaningful trace it ever existed. That’s a significant step beyond an abandoned ghost town. No physical evidence of Doveland lingers in the form of abandoned buildings, old cemeteries, historical records, or maps.
A dearth of historical proof is no obstacle when it comes to spinning tales about Doveland. Some Wisconsin residents claim they own souvenirs culled from the town. Others claim they remember Doveland, visited the town back in the day, or even had relatives who lived there.
Fall of Doveland
Stories about Doveland typically agree that the town sprang up during the 1960s as a destination for military families involved in a secret military project. Determining the town’s fate has invited a host of theories ranging from a natural disaster to terrifying paranormal circumstances.
Trust me when I say some of these Doveland theories get wild.
One theory suggests an earthquake created a massive sinkhole that swallowed the entire town. A second theory claims Doveland was destroyed from flooding as a result of either a dam being created or a dam bursting and the debris was swept away. A third theory posits that the town was destroyed by a military science experiment gone wrong and all surviving residents moved to parts unknown.
The craziest theory of all claims Doveland either vanished or shifted to a different dimension after being cursed by a vengeful spirit. Residents of the town are still hanging around. We simply can’t see them in our reality. They are like ghosts to us.
Doveland Origins
Stories of Doveland, Wisconsin first gained steam on message board sites like Reddit and 4Chan in the late 2010s after Google searches allegedly autocompleted the search term Doveland to read “Doveland, Wisconsin.” These tales all bear the hallmarks of vanishing town folklore.
Legends of missing towns date back many centuries. The most famous example being the Roanoke Colony that disappeared by 1590 — five years after being founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. These places always fall victim to some sort of sinister fate and vanish without a trace left behind.
Modern iterations of the vanishing town urban legend usually contain an added twist of government or military officials orchestrating coverups designed to prevent knowledge of the town and its fate from spreading to the public. Such accounts are entertaining X-Files style stories but have no basis in reality.
The irony behind Doveland, Wisconsin is hundreds of genuine ghost towns are scattered throughout the United States. These places exist as real artifacts of history. Many offer fascinating stories connected to their past. Doveland, on the other hand, is nothing more than a digital age urban legend — a town that grew from a scary story repeatedly shared on social media channels and message boards.
Check out the Strange New Worlds archives for previous Folklore Friday features. If you have a specific urban legend, myth, or piece of folklore you want me to explore in the future, feel free to let me know in the comments.
