I live in the Tulsa area - a little bit of history worth knowing is that Picher,OK supplied a third of all the lead for bullets during WW1 and about the same amount of Zing used to galvanize military equipment during WW2! It was and is still a huge deposit of lead and zinc. After watching your video I looked at google maps and the mines are all in the 10 mile area around the city. That cannot possibly be the end of the mineral deposit, so I assume that as manufacturing moved away from the US, the new manufacturing areas found closer places to get their raw materials. I enjoyed the video, thanks!
What a story. Wow! So sad, and kind of creepy to see. Never heard of this before. Very interesting to see. Thanks for taking us on this journey. Well done!!!
I actually live right by Picher. I can see the chat piles from my back deck. This is one of the best videos I’ve seen about picher! The abandoned gas station now has someone living there in a camper.
*This has to be one of my favorites. I had heard of Centralia, like everybody else, but I honestly had never heard of Picher!🤔 (You're right. I bet it's because Centralia's issue is still actively burning.)... What a fascinating place Picher is, with some of the town still standing. The tornado took its toll, obviously. It is great that the town is actively guarded. I am not sure that I would want that assignment... It must have really given you a feeling of sadness, as you explored what was not closed off. You did a phenomenal job of highlighting what remains, while wisely following the restrictions, as well as filling in the historical background, and using pics, Nick. Thank you, and your wife so much. excellent 🏚🙏🏻🏚👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I wondered about the missing windows, too. Could they have ALL been blown out so uniformly, during the tornado?🤔 At least all of the debris was removed.😊
I spent a lot of time in pitcher. I had friends that lived there. We use fish in mining ponds around there. They were full of black bass back in the 70's. My dad and uncles, Mickey Mantle worked in the mines around there. We climbed the chat piles swam in the ponds including a famous one of the name skeleton on the south end of Pitcher.
Totally love places like this one. Just like you've said , it would be a nice place to make a movie and especially a scary one. I loved this awesome video and I do appreciate your time spent making it. Now I can go on to enjoy more of the places that you have visited.
Im only 30min from there. We used along with hundreds other people, riding atv and dirt bikes on the chat piles. It was open to the public in the mid 90s. They also used the toxic chat in playgrounds and parking lots all over the area. My good friend rode his atv in a sink hole and broke his arm and shoulder
These kind of towns make me sad. I guess I've always have found abandoned places interesting, but I've always have wondered for the reason behind the abandonment. I guess there are many reasons, but I find most of them heartbreaking.
My old hometown. We used to vacation there every other summer growing up to visit family and lived there from 1983-1984. As a matter of fact, I went 5th grade there in Picher and 40 years ago today was the last day of school that year. As it turned out, I was supposed to be in town the day of the tornado but extended my trip in Nashville a couple days. I ended up coming thru and helping out 2 days later and just couldn’t believe what I was seeing from all the damage. 😢
Sorry to hear about that, must've been sad to just see an area you grew up in completely abandoned today, but at least you've got some great memories there 😊.
My paternal grandfather was born in Picher and his family was part of the great Okie migration to Central California around 1935ish. By 1940 they were in California. I've been wanting to go there and see the lot where they lived on Oneida St. Although, I didn't know him at all... he was a genetic grandfather. He abandoned my dad as a baby when his under-aged wife died of a diabetic coma. My dad was epileptic and he was adopted by some amazing people, my "real" grandparents. But the story they were often told was the my dad was "damaged" because his father was born in a "town with bad water" -- but that's all we really knew. It wasn't until after my Dad passed and we did some deep genealogy and DNA testing did we learn the whole story. My Mom always said it would be a great book.
I was just there today and the high school has a ton of dump trucks and heavy equipment now using it as a staging spot. Looks like they are about to start something big in terms of moving dirt. There's also a few things that you missed. On The west side of town there is a single lot with what appears to be a dedication to two girls who were murdered and their bodies dumped in one of the picture areas, but their remains were not found. To the Northeast, there is a plot of land deemed private property with someone living in a tent on it and some goats in the yard. It appears that they have maintained a home there, even without electricity or other utilities. We also found a house on the east side of town which was still maintained very nicely with several newer vehicles in front of it. It was near the ball fields. I think overall we found six or seven houses in the picture area that were still in use. It's pretty amazing that people still stay there even though they know how toxic it is. As soon as you get outside of town, there's lots of farmland and ranches. I wonder what the effect of the dust from pitcher has on their livestock and on the foods they produce.
Wow! Thanks for adding all this great information! Now I’m mad we missed some of it haha. Can’t believe people are still there. Thanks so much for the great comment!
I grew up around here... my great grandparents house is one of the few still standing... this breaks my heart... I have health issues to this day bc THEY LET US PLAY ON THOSE CHAT PILES!! no one knew they were toxic, supposedly...
This is a hidden story about the genocide of natives... they not only forced them to relocate but then they mined the area so badly the air is toxic there... but they "didn't know".... huh, funny they didn't do it near themselves, just where they put my people...? This isn't something you'll ever hear about in history books bc they'll deny it every step of the way.
Years ago I used to buy my weed up in picher when I was working out of town in Miami, the guy lived in a trailer park, then after the tornado I went back up to check on him and the whole trailer park was gone, I never knew what happened to him.
I live in Quapaw right next to Pitcher and commerce. Home of Mickey mantle lol. Place is closed and nothing but fbi hang around because people dump bodies in the chat piles
@@TravelswithNick I also tried turning the volume up myself. It was very low during the outdoor portions of your video. You might try putting it into audacity and increasing the volume levels on future videos. Help people be able to hear them better.
I'm just wondering why you didn't have some sort of mask on over your nose and mouth? Weren't you concerned about being contaminated? Like your clothes your shoes and then getting back into your vehicle. Even in your lungs? Cool vid.
Lol yea this one came out odd. None of my other videos are like that. If you’re watching on an older iPad that might be the issue too they tend to keep the volume low
Hey y’all don’t forget to Like 👍 the video. It helps out more than you know. Thanks ✌️
Can "you" do anything about the audio.
Hot dang. This is a kick a** video! Such a sad story but amazing to see in person! Great vid Nick
Thanks so much!!
I live in the Tulsa area - a little bit of history worth knowing is that Picher,OK supplied a third of all the lead for bullets during WW1 and about the same amount of Zing used to galvanize military equipment during WW2! It was and is still a huge deposit of lead and zinc. After watching your video I looked at google maps and the mines are all in the 10 mile area around the city. That cannot possibly be the end of the mineral deposit, so I assume that as manufacturing moved away from the US, the new manufacturing areas found closer places to get their raw materials. I enjoyed the video, thanks!
Thanks for all this great information! Really cool to know 😎
What a story. Wow! So sad, and kind of creepy to see. Never heard of this before. Very interesting to see. Thanks for taking us on this journey. Well done!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😎✌️
Very interesting!
Glad you think so!
I actually live right by Picher. I can see the chat piles from my back deck. This is one of the best videos I’ve seen about picher! The abandoned gas station now has someone living there in a camper.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thx for the great comment! It’s cool that you’re not too far from there. We enjoyed checking it out!
I've been to ghost towns in New Mexico and Texas and I’ve gone into the buildings especially if I drove six hours to get there
*This has to be one of my favorites. I had heard of Centralia, like everybody else, but I honestly had never heard of Picher!🤔 (You're right. I bet it's because Centralia's issue is still actively burning.)... What a fascinating place Picher is, with some of the town still standing. The tornado took its toll, obviously. It is great that the town is actively guarded. I am not sure that I would want that assignment... It must have really given you a feeling of sadness, as you explored what was not closed off. You did a phenomenal job of highlighting what remains, while wisely following the restrictions, as well as filling in the historical background, and using pics, Nick. Thank you, and your wife so much. excellent
🏚🙏🏻🏚👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I wondered about the missing windows, too. Could they have ALL been blown out so uniformly, during the tornado?🤔 At least all of the debris was removed.😊
Thanks so much Rhonda! Glad you enjoyed this tour 😎✌️
Thanks for sharing
My family is from Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a beautiful state, thanks for watching!
I am so glad I see a couple buildings still standing in Picher. It is still sad what happened to the town, though.
Sad for sure. Thanks for watching!
I knew a kid that grew up there, he died in his early 50s 2 months ago.
Wow that’s crazy. Sad to hear of his passing…
Were you friends with him?
What you called the house with the chimney was the Picher museum.
I spent a lot of time in pitcher. I had friends that lived there. We use fish in mining ponds around there. They were full of black bass back in the 70's. My dad and uncles, Mickey Mantle worked in the mines around there. We climbed the chat piles swam in the ponds including a famous one of the name skeleton on the south end of Pitcher.
Crazy stories! Thx for sharing them!
Great video! I've always wanted to visit Picher.
Thx a lot!!
wow 😳🤔🤔
Thanks Javier for watching! 😎✌️
Totally love places like this one. Just like you've said , it would be a nice place to make a movie and especially a scary one. I loved this awesome video and I do appreciate your time spent making it. Now I can go on to enjoy more of the places that you have visited.
Totally agree! Thanks so much for the nice comment 😎👏
Im only 30min from there. We used along with hundreds other people, riding atv and dirt bikes on the chat piles. It was open to the public in the mid 90s. They also used the toxic chat in playgrounds and parking lots all over the area. My good friend rode his atv in a sink hole and broke his arm and shoulder
Wow that’s interesting. Crazy stories! Thanks for sharing!!
The one building on the main drag was. It burned. It was up when I explored it. It was epic when it was around.
Wow thanks for the info!
That old building on the main drag you were asking about was Hoppys poolhall.
Thanks for all the info!!
That building on A street down from the school you were wandering about that said Pitcher on it that you thought was creepy was the old auction house.
These kind of towns make me sad. I guess I've always have found abandoned places interesting, but I've always have wondered for the reason behind the abandonment. I guess there are many reasons, but I find most of them heartbreaking.
It’s a very sad story for sure. I’ve never seen a town quite like this before. Thanks for watching!
This is LEGIT!
It would’ve been cool to get to talk to the police and get stories from them!
Thanks! If they would’ve stopped I bet I could have had a nice conversation 😎
When I grew up there the cops were Jack Crockett and Ron Mathers.
My old hometown. We used to vacation there every other summer growing up to visit family and lived there from 1983-1984. As a matter of fact, I went 5th grade there in Picher and 40 years ago today was the last day of school that year. As it turned out, I was supposed to be in town the day of the tornado but extended my trip in Nashville a couple days. I ended up coming thru and helping out 2 days later and just couldn’t believe what I was seeing from all the damage. 😢
Wow thanks for sharing your story. Thanks for watching ✌️
Sorry to hear about that, must've been sad to just see an area you grew up in completely abandoned today, but at least you've got some great memories there 😊.
Those parking lots in the housing projects where you were, were parking spaces for each duplex there.
Thx for the info and for watching!
None of the houses have windows.....on purpose?
I have no idea haha. Weird though right??
When the town was vacated, high valued items were stripped from homes. A/C Systems, Ranges, Windows, Fixtures..ect.
It is so sad to see the abandoned places like this. Some time ago people lived there, worked, raised up their kids… and now this 😢
Agreed. Thanks for watching
My paternal grandfather was born in Picher and his family was part of the great Okie migration to Central California around 1935ish. By 1940 they were in California. I've been wanting to go there and see the lot where they lived on Oneida St. Although, I didn't know him at all... he was a genetic grandfather. He abandoned my dad as a baby when his under-aged wife died of a diabetic coma. My dad was epileptic and he was adopted by some amazing people, my "real" grandparents. But the story they were often told was the my dad was "damaged" because his father was born in a "town with bad water" -- but that's all we really knew. It wasn't until after my Dad passed and we did some deep genealogy and DNA testing did we learn the whole story. My Mom always said it would be a great book.
Wow thanks for sharing your story. Thanks for watching ✌️
I was just there today and the high school has a ton of dump trucks and heavy equipment now using it as a staging spot. Looks like they are about to start something big in terms of moving dirt. There's also a few things that you missed. On The west side of town there is a single lot with what appears to be a dedication to two girls who were murdered and their bodies dumped in one of the picture areas, but their remains were not found. To the Northeast, there is a plot of land deemed private property with someone living in a tent on it and some goats in the yard. It appears that they have maintained a home there, even without electricity or other utilities. We also found a house on the east side of town which was still maintained very nicely with several newer vehicles in front of it. It was near the ball fields. I think overall we found six or seven houses in the picture area that were still in use. It's pretty amazing that people still stay there even though they know how toxic it is. As soon as you get outside of town, there's lots of farmland and ranches. I wonder what the effect of the dust from pitcher has on their livestock and on the foods they produce.
Wow! Thanks for adding all this great information! Now I’m mad we missed some of it haha. Can’t believe people are still there. Thanks so much for the great comment!
I grew up around here... my great grandparents house is one of the few still standing... this breaks my heart... I have health issues to this day bc THEY LET US PLAY ON THOSE CHAT PILES!! no one knew they were toxic, supposedly...
They didn't really settle they're by choice... this is pretty much where the trail of tears ended... my family walked it too. 💔
This is a hidden story about the genocide of natives... they not only forced them to relocate but then they mined the area so badly the air is toxic there... but they "didn't know".... huh, funny they didn't do it near themselves, just where they put my people...? This isn't something you'll ever hear about in history books bc they'll deny it every step of the way.
Wow thanks for sharing all the info. Sorry to hear about your health issues due to the toxins here. It’s a sad story for sure. Take care
Thank you for letting me see places I might never get to set foot in again. ❤❤❤
You know how close you were to the Tri State marker where you could have been in Kansas, Oklahoma, AND Missouri all 3 at the same time!
I missed it haha. Thx for the info!
Years ago I used to buy my weed up in picher when I was working out of town in Miami, the guy lived in a trailer park, then after the tornado I went back up to check on him and the whole trailer park was gone, I never knew what happened to him.
I live in Quapaw right next to Pitcher and commerce. Home of Mickey mantle lol. Place is closed and nothing but fbi hang around because people dump bodies in the chat piles
That’s somethin, thanks for watching!
That's crazy. As a trucker that's driven by there makes you wonder how many things we drive by without knowing. Scary and sad
Believe it or not but the chats are still very popular for people to ride their dirt bikes on. Just don’t get caught lol
Crazy!
That big wall is the football field
These houses were apart of Picher's Low Income Government Housing.
Thanks for the information ✌️
TBH i would love to life there far away from everyone and everything.
Volume is VERY low
Turn volume up then haha
@@TravelswithNick I also tried turning the volume up myself. It was very low during the outdoor portions of your video. You might try putting it into audacity and increasing the volume levels on future videos. Help people be able to hear them better.
Volume is fine on my side
I'm having the same issue now
I'm just wondering why you didn't have some sort of mask on over your nose and mouth? Weren't you concerned about being contaminated? Like your clothes your shoes and then getting back into your vehicle. Even in your lungs? Cool vid.
I probably shouldve had a mask lol. Good point! Thanks for watching!
Maybe the buildings are still standing because they are brick….big bad wolf and all
Lol
😮😢
Thanks for watching ✌️
I'm going to guess that you are an Aquarius.
Virgo lol
I am going to guess that you are a Libra.
God I hope you raised the volume on your future videos... beyond annoying. Trust me, stay loud and let us adjust it down. Good luck
Lol yea this one came out odd. None of my other videos are like that. If you’re watching on an older iPad that might be the issue too they tend to keep the volume low