Sims is a ghost town in Morton County, North Dakota, United States. The town was founded in 1883, and Sims Scandinavian Lutheran Church was constructed the following year. Today, the church has been restored and still worships every other Sunday. The church

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

has also been restored and is home to the Sims Historical Society Museum. During her trip to North Dakota in October 2008,

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

visited Sims and toured its church.

History

Sims was founded in 1883 as a

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

. Coal mining and the town's brickyard helped Sims grow to a population of more than 1,000 people. However, the 1910 Census recorded a population of just 86 people. The population fluctuated over the years, with an estimated 98 people in 1940. The post office was founded in 1883 and closed in 1947, with mail routed through Almont, North Dakota, to the south. Sims Scandinavian Lutheran Church was built in 1884 as a combination church and residence. A new church was built in 1896 next to the parsonage. The church is reportedly North Dakota's oldest Lutheran church west of the Missouri River. The congregation still has roughly 50 members, even though they do not live in Sims. Locals report, however, that the town does have one remaining resident: a former pastor's wife who died between 1916 and 1918. Dubbed the "Gray Lady Ghost," her spirit is reported to haunt the old parsonage, wandering the rooms and playing the organ. The last residence in Sims, a mobile home in the center of town, was occupied in 2005, but looked vacant by 2010, and was removed by 2012.

References

External links

Ghosttowns.com entryInformation on Sims at Preservation North Dakota
{{Authority control Ghost towns in North Dakota Geography of Morton County, North Dakota Former municipalities in North Dakota Populated places established in 1883 1883 establishments in Dakota Territory Reportedly haunted locations in North Dakota