The town of St. Marys was platted by Dr. Louis Gotthelf in 1886. A post-WWI land boom spurred the establishment of new businesses in 1919, and the town became a trade center on a Chicago and North Western Railroad line. In 1920, the town's name was changed to Argonne to honor those who died in the battle of Meuse-Argonne in WWI. In the 1970s, after the Argonne grade school and high school closed and railroad service to the town ended, Argonne became a ghost town.