Picher
Blackburn
Slick
Shamrock

Armed with a few maps, old census records, and a handful of clues from locals, I set out across the rural areas surrounding Tulsa, Oklahoma, looking for remnants of "ghost towns." What I learned is that "ghost town" is a subjective word... at least to the people who still live in them.

A Case Study Ghost Town: Picher

In Picher, I met Orval "Hoppy" Ray, who had lived in the town his entire life. He keeps a display of his private collection of local historical artifacts and operates the town pool hall/meeting center, and gladly tells stories of the glory days of this zinc mining boom town.