In the northeastern corner of Oklahoma sits an empty grid of cracked streets and abandoned buildings. Decades ago, Picher was a booming mining hub that produced the materials necessary for global conflicts. Today, it stands entirely vacant, declared a federal disaster area due to severe environmental contamination.
The earth beneath the town is hollow, the groundwater runs bright red, and the landscape is dominated by mountains of toxic mining waste. The sudden rise and complete evacuation of Picher trace a history of intense industrial extraction followed by environmental collapse and natural disaster.
A Booming Lead and Zinc Economy
In the early twentieth century, miners discovered extensive deposits of lead and zinc underground. By 1920, Picher incorporated as a city, and its population peaked at nearly 15,000 residents. During World War I, the district supplied over fifty percent of the lead and zinc used by the United States military.
The extraction process required excavating vast underground chambers. The resulting gravel mining waste, known locally as chat, was piled on the surface. These chat piles grew into artificial hills reaching heights of up to 200 feet (61 meters).
Environmental Contamination and Health Crises
Mining operations ceased entirely in 1967. The companies left behind 14,000 abandoned mine shafts and 70 million tons (63.5 million metric tons) of mine tailings. Subsurface water pumps were turned off, causing the underground cavities to flood. The water reacted with remaining sulfide minerals, creating acidic water that breached the surface and stained local waterways opaque red.
By the mid-1990s, medical studies revealed that over a third of the children living in Picher had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The Environmental Protection Agency designated the town and surrounding areas as the Tar Creek Superfund site.
Sinkholes and Government Buyouts
The structural integrity of the town began to fail. In 2006, an engineering report commissioned by the government concluded that 86 percent of the buildings in Picher were situated over underground voids prone to collapse. Sinkholes opened across residential neighborhoods and roadways.
In response, the federal government initiated a mandatory buyout program, offering residents financial compensation to relocate. Most citizens accepted the buyout and moved away, leaving entire blocks empty.
The Final Tornado and Evacuation
On May 10, 2008, an EF4 tornado struck the remaining populated areas of Picher. The storm traveled through the center of town, destroying 150 homes and resulting in six fatalities. This natural disaster accelerated the final exodus.
In 2009, the federal government formally dissolved the municipality of Picher, and the local school district was closed. The United States Postal Service discontinued mail delivery to the town. Today, the restricted area remains completely uninhabited, surrounded by chain-link fences and warning signs about the unstable ground and toxic dust.