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UER Forum > Archived US: South > Last days of Picher, OK (Viewed 590 times) dwtaylor999  Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma Gender: Male  |  Last days of Picher, OK < on 7/25/2011 4:07 PM >   Finally made it to Picher in late May. If you're not familiar with Picher, it was part of the Tar Creek super fund site at the top of the EPA's list for years. After a long battle, the residents have been bought/forced out and the town is being demolished. Google it if you want more info. I've been meaning to visit for awhile as word was they were escalating the demolition. I wanted to check it out before they had razed it to the ground and finally made it up in late May. demolition began in January of 2011. There were still quite a few structures still standing, though not having seen it pre destruction, it's hard to compare. Most of the residential housing was gone and a small bit of the business district still stood. Destruction appeared a bit hodge podge. A single house here and there still standing for no apparent reason. The low income government housing was still standing, though the mechanicals had been removed, except for one unit, which appeared to house a caretaker. They're brick duplex units, so I'm not sure why they still stand, it isn't like they can move them. The school complex is still largely intact as well with some of the building being used by the US Marshals. The chat piles were immense and it was worth the trip just to see them. Some random shots with no specific rhyme or reason. I'm glad I got to see it before it completely gone. Ruins, the fate of all cities. MIM-14  Location: Texas Gender: Male  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 1 on 7/25/2011 4:30 PM >   Wow, an entire town razed! That must have been a pretty eerie place to visit. Great photos, thanks for sharing them. Can't believe they left the gorilla mascot there VBJag  Location: Oklahoma Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 2 on 7/25/2011 8:26 PM >   Serious sad. I got to visit Picher three times, and every time left me wanting more. It was a great town, but that EF-4 that hit them a few years back really accelerated the closure. The pool, is the house still there? There was a nice two story house where that pool is. And I never got the government housing that was built while the town was being bought out. What a friggin waste. Kicking myself for not going back there with my DSLR when I came back home for a day in December. Could have seen that and seen Joplin one last time. Damn it. VBJag  Location: Oklahoma Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 3 on 7/25/2011 8:28 PM >   Posted by MIM-14 Wow, an entire town razed! That must have been a pretty eerie place to visit. Great photos, thanks for sharing them. Can't believe they left the gorilla mascot there Lot more than that. Houses have pots and pans, tv's, etc. The schools had the band instruments, textbooks, chemistry lab equipment, shoulder pads, helmets, trophies, playbooks, chairs, desks, computers, everything. Honestly Picher is as close to a Pripyat as most of us will ever get. With everything just left, it looked like aliens had come down and zapped up the residents in the middle of the night. [last edit 7/25/2011 8:32 PM by VBJag - edited 1 times] Captain_Slow  The infamous Buttram Manfist Location: Dallas, Tx Gender: Male Obviously capable of mediocre things.  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 4 on 7/25/2011 8:31 PM >   Huzzah for the white Ranger club! Beautiful shots as always, man. Love the creepy shot of the pool missing a house. Raticus  Moderator Location: Tyler Gender: Male Ratus exploricus abandonae  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 5 on 7/25/2011 9:21 PM >   Picher is a sad story. Thanks for posting the updates! Great job. Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. Price  Location: Houston,TX Gender: Male Urbex: Keeping record of things most people have forgotten.  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 6 on 7/25/2011 9:24 PM >   Needs more chat. also. makes me want to walk over to brio =[ snakes everywhreeee im jealous as always =] thanks for the posts “It still amazes me how many millions goes to discovering another star in the galaxies when, for all we know, we are still sitting on top of another undiscovered world beneath our feet.” -Martin Dansky (1952) dwtaylor999  Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma Gender: Male  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 7 on 7/25/2011 10:00 PM >   Posted by VBJag The pool, is the house still there? There was a nice two story house where that pool is. And I never got the government housing that was built while the town was being bought out. What a friggin waste. Nope, house and all the ones surrounding it where gone. In fact, the pool was half full of rubble. I really wish I had made it up before the serious demolition was completed. Did you ever check out any of the other communities that were affected? Ruins, the fate of all cities. VBJag  Location: Oklahoma Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Last days of Picher, OK <Reply # 8 on 7/26/2011 12:45 AM >   Posted by dwtaylor999 Nope, house and all the ones surrounding it where gone. In fact, the pool was half full of rubble. I really wish I had made it up before the serious demolition was completed. Did you ever check out any of the other communities that were affected? Damn. Probably use to be about 100 houses in that neighborhood. I've been to Cardin and Hockerville. Hockerville really just has a house or two and an old shell of a two story building that was probably part of the downtown. Cardin had a small church and a bunch of houses, but that was really it. According to a local of Cardin, they had one smelter, 2 mills and 2 bars back in the day. Never made it to Treece though, every time I finished in Picher it was already dark. Pool pre demolition: [last edit 7/26/2011 12:46 AM by VBJag - edited 1 times] UER Forum > Archived US: South > Last days of Picher, OK (Viewed 590 times) All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire. To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield This page was generated for you in 78 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 738372617 pages have been generated.