The Most Dangerous Ghost Town in America is in Oklahoma

I was looking up different ghost towns in Oklahoma and stumbled across a documentary on YouTube about a town that's abandoned and even worse than that, the town is toxic, literally.

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Before today I had never heard of this place, it's a really crazy and heartbreaking story. The now-empty town of Picher, OK. is located in the far Northeast corner of the state in Ottawa, County.

Picher, Oklahoma is the most dangerous & toxic ghost town in the United States

It was once a mining town that was a part of the Zinc and Lead Tri-State Mining District that was in operation from the mid-1800s to the late 1960s. Due to over-mining and improper techniques, the entire town became toxic. Mining ceased back in 1967 and the town slowly died, in 2009 it was officially disincorporated.

Hit play on the video below to learn more about the ghost town of Picher, OK.

The town has areas that are completely filled with chat or mine tails that contain dangerous amounts of Lead, Zinc, and other metals. This poisoned the land and water making Picher unfit for humans and animals alike. It's one of the few places in the U.S. that has been declared uninhabitable due to mining contamination.

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Back in the early to mid-1900s the Picher, OK. mines provided close to 50% of all the lead and other metals needed by the U.S. Military during WWI and going into WWII.

This town has seen everything from mining contamination to massive tornadoes

Most of the ammo and other munitions used during the wars contained Picher metals. Picher was the most productive Zinc and Lead mine in the Tri-State Mining District. But it came at a great cost and ended up destroying the town in the end.

Watch the video below for more details on the most dangerous ghost town in Oklahoma

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has listed Picher, OK. as the most toxic and dangerous city in the U.S. There are a few people who still live there, around 20 total. A few houses remain and one business is still open in the town. The rest has either fallen down or has been demolished.

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Cleanup efforts have been ongoing and continue to this day. The damage that was done due to mining was catastrophic and the entire area will be uninhabitable pretty much forever even with the cleanup and removal of toxic materials. This is one Oklahoma ghost town that you really don't want to visit.