Picher, Oklahoma: Aerials from America’s most toxic ghost town

Once a booming lead and zinc mining town, Picher, Oklahoma, is now known as one of America’s most toxic ghost towns.

Driving through Picher, Oklahoma, is like passing through the ruins of a modern ghost town. Once a thriving hub of lead and zinc mining in the Tri-State Mining District, Picher’s prosperity came at a high cost. For over a century, uncontrolled excavation left the ground unstable, the water contaminated, and the air filled with toxic dust from massive chat piles—those looming gray mounds of mine tailings still visible today.

By 1983, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had declared Picher part of the Tar Creek Superfund site, and within a generation, the town was effectively abandoned. Schools closed, homes were bought out, and families moved away, leaving behind quiet streets and empty foundations.

Today, curious travelers can still glimpse the skeletal remains of the community, with the chat piles rising like monuments to both industry and its consequences. It’s a sobering reminder of how quickly prosperity can vanish—and how deeply the land remembers.