'America's Most Toxic Ghost Town' Is An Abandoned Mining Town On The Border Of Kansas And Oklahoma

Travelers in the U.S. seeking to explore abandoned ghost towns are spoiled for choice, from Nevada's most picturesque Rhyolite, that's been the grounds for many movie sets, to Arizona's Vulture City, a ghost town with desert relics and historic gold mines. Road trippers hunting for authentic slices of Americana often seek out these remnants, cameras at the ready for ruins to catch a glimpse of boom times gone bust. But there's abandoned, and there's evacuated — the difference between the two tells a much darker story about industrial progress and its environmental toll.

That particular, grimmer distinction belongs to Picher. Located in northeast Oklahoma on the Kansas line, this former mining town has been called America's most toxic ghost town by The Oklahoman. Unlike most other ghost towns, however, Picher's unfortunate title was relatively recent, having a population of 1,640 in 2000 and today standing at absolute zero. The town is found just a few miles off Route 66. It's close enough that travelers driving through to see some of Route 66's best attractions might stumble across its haunting remains.

Once there, visitors may find a lone gorilla mascot from the 1994 football championship still presiding over an otherwise empty lot. There are abandoned buildings sagging under their own weight, their windows dark and doors sealed shut. The silence is complete, broken only by wind whistling through collapsed structures and overgrown lots where homes once stood: welcome to Picher.

Like entering a post-apocalyptic scene may be the first impression many people get when driving into Picher. You can still do so today, though you'll want to keep your car windows rolled up and resist the urge to step outside. If you do drive through, you can take Route 69 through the artifacts of what was the bustling business district, carrying traffic in a community that once housed nearly 10,000 people. Empty streets are lined with foundations where houses once stood, punctuated by abandoned buildings with spray-painted warnings to "Keep Out" and storefronts with boarded windows. Chat piles still scar the horizon, and in some places you'll see evidence of demolition plants (orange X's on houses) or small-scale scavenging. There is not a single soul in sight.

By the late 2000s, only a scattering of people still clung to life in Picher. They called themselves the "chat rats" and managed to survive in this toxic wasteland through sheer ingenuity and stubbornness. Daily life was a strange improvisation of dirty bikes and ATVs cut through barren mounds, and supplies meant regular trips out of town. Among the last to keep a business open was Gary Linderman, a pharmacist who ran Ole' Miners until he died in 2015. According to The Oklahoman, Linderman called himself "the last man standing" in a town that had emptied around him.

While there's nowhere to stay in Picher itself, nearby towns offer more hospitable options. Consider booking a room in Miami, Oklahoma—just 15 minutes away—where you'll find comfort at the Hampton Inn Miami or the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham. If you're flying in from out of state, the nearest major airport is Tulsa International Airport, about 1.5 hours away from Picher by car.