Imagine living in small-town America going about life and having no idea you’re living in the most toxic town in America. This is what life was like for residents of Picher, Oklahoma in the mid-to-late 1900s. Picher was a booming mining town for lead and zinc for many decades in the 1900s. During the extraction of ore from the earth, piles of “chat” would accumulate in town and residents had no idea this toxic material was making them sick and possibly killing them. Parents would fill kids’ sandboxes with the chat and kids would ride their bikes up and down it. Every day residents stepped out of their doors thinking they were safe when in reality they were in danger.
In 1983 the government included Picher as a Tar Creek Superfund site in an effort to help clean up the mess. But, it was too late. The damage had already been done. Toxic chemicals had already contaminated the water supply, the buildings, the ground, and the residents. In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency shut the town down and the population dropped to only 20 residents. Today, it’s an abandoned ghost town that is one of the eeriest places in America.
Picher is located in Ottowa County in northeastern Oklahoma. Today, it’s a ghost town with only a few abandoned buildings and leftover chat piles. It was deemed the “most toxic town in America” so you can imagine how eerie this place is.
flickr/DeeAshley
In 2006 a study was done that showed that 86% of the buildings left in Picher were uninhabitable and could collapse at any time.
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The school closed down for good in 2009 after most residents moved out of town.
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After the Superfund was established, it was found that 63 percent of Picher kids had lead poisoning.
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If you visit the town today, it’s really quite creepy. It’s one of only a few locations in the world that has been declared “uninhabitable due to environmental and health damage caused by area mines.”
flickr/tyson luneau
On top of all this, in 2008 the town was struck by an EF-4 tornado that was the final nail in the coffin for the town.
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If you do visit, be sure and stay away from the groundwater. Even though the government has tried cleaning this place up, you never know what still lies in the soil and water.
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Have you ever seen this ghost town in person? If so, share your experience with us in the comments!
flickr/DeeAshley
flickr/jeremy
flickr/tyson luneau
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Do you enjoy visiting haunted ghost towns? If so, check out our road trip we put together that will take you to 6 haunted ghost towns in Oklahoma.
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Address: Picher, OK 74360, USA
