Picher Oklahoma: U.S. town demolished over lead contamination and turn into a ghost town.
Most of its residents left, the school closed, the city government was disbanded, and starting this week nearly every commercial building in Picher, Oklahoma, will be demolished. But the owner of the last-remaining open business in Picher, which has been vacated over the years because of lead contamination, is not ready to go. “It’s not time for me to leave yet,” said Gary Linderman, owner of Old Miner’s Pharmacy in what is left of central Picher.
from a recent visitor to Picher, Oklahoma…
In one of the most jarringly sad but mesmerizing expericences of my life, I recently visited the ruins of the small community of Picher, Oklahoma.
Picher was heavily contaminated by lead and the government was in the process of buying out the property in the town when in 2008, a massive, devastating EF4 tornado struck.
The town’s remaining holdouts accepted the government shortly afterward, and Picher became a modern day ghost town. (My heartfelt condolences to the former residents on the loss of their community)
Despite my at times shaky camerawork and my starting the camera too quickly driving into Picher, this town’s story I think bears telling, and being there today is a deeply unsettling, eerie experience…
Most of its residents left, the school closed, the city government was disbanded, and starting this week nearly every commercial building in Picher, Oklahoma, will be demolished. But the owner of the last-remaining open business in Picher, which has been vacated over the years because of lead contamination, is not ready to go. “It’s not time for me to leave yet,” said Gary Linderman, owner of Old Miner’s Pharmacy in what is left of central Picher.
from a recent visitor to Picher, Oklahoma…
In one of the most jarringly sad but mesmerizing expericences of my life, I recently visited the ruins of the small community of Picher, Oklahoma.
Picher was heavily contaminated by lead and the government was in the process of buying out the property in the town when in 2008, a massive, devastating EF4 tornado struck.
The town’s remaining holdouts accepted the government shortly afterward, and Picher became a modern day ghost town. (My heartfelt condolences to the former residents on the loss of their community)
Despite my at times shaky camerawork and my starting the camera too quickly driving into Picher, this town’s story I think bears telling, and being there today is a deeply unsettling, eerie experience…
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