Abandoned Towns

State hub · Oklahoma

Ghost towns in Oklahoma

By one count Oklahoma has had about 2,000 ghost towns, using a definition that includes places that lost at least 80 percent of their peak population. Few have the standing buildings of western mining camps. Many were farm and railroad towns that lost out: the Katy railroad bypassed Boggy Depot and Perryville in 1872, rival promoters killed off towns like Eschiti, and county seat fights left Cloud Chief and Ingersoll behind. Liquor towns such as Beer City in No Man's Land and Keokuk Falls faded with law and order and with statehood in 1907, when Oklahoma entered the Union dry. Oil booms built Whizbang and Three Sands in the 1920s, and both faded after the boom. Hochatown, old Kaw City, Lugert and Sardis disappeared when reservoirs were built.

The oldest sites are in the former Indian Territory in the east, Choctaw and Chickasaw towns like Doaksville, Boggy Depot and Skullyville that faded after the Civil War or when the railroads passed them by. In the northeast corner, Picher was a lead and zinc town of more than 14,000 people in 1926; mine waste and polluted water put it inside the Tar Creek Superfund site, and with much of the town undermined, a federal buyout emptied it by 2011. What survives elsewhere is usually a cemetery, some foundations or a few old buildings in a living hamlet.

259Sites indexed
65Counties
169Mapped
16Town guides
Blaine CountyComanche CountyBeckham CountyKingfisher CountyCuster CountyGreer CountyCherokee CountyGrady CountyCarter CountyPushmataha CountyCreek CountyAlfalfa CountyCotton CountyWagoner CountyCleveland CountyMurray CountyOkmulgee CountyChoctaw CountyJefferson CountyNowata CountyWoods CountyWoodward CountyPottawatomie CountyMcIntosh CountyOkfuskee CountyGarfield CountyEllis CountyJackson CountyTexas CountyKay CountyLincoln CountyLogan CountyAdair CountyGarvin CountyKiowa CountyPawnee CountyJohnston CountyMcClain CountyOklahoma CountyOsage CountyPayne CountyCoal CountyHughes CountyPontotoc CountyHaskell CountyLatimer CountyMcCurtain CountyStephens CountyMuskogee CountyOttawa CountyDelaware CountyHarmon CountyMayes CountySequoyah CountyCanadian CountyAtoka CountyPittsburg CountyTillman CountyBryan CountyLe Flore CountyNoble CountySeminole CountyDewey CountyLove CountyRoger Mills CountyTulsa CountyWashita CountyCaddo CountyCimarron CountyWashington CountyGrant CountyMarshall CountyHarper CountyBeaver CountyCraig CountyMajor CountyRogers CountyOklahoma CityTulsaLawtonEnidMcAlesterPicherIngallsTexolaBoggy DepotWhizbangDoaksvilleCloud ChiefSkullyvilleDepewMeersAmericaBridgeportRamonaOkay
Town guideOther sitesCity
Select a dot to see the site. 169 of 259 sites have reliable coordinates so far.

Town guides

16 full Oklahoma town guides

Our complete guides, most-read first: history, what's left, current access, photos, maps and directions.

A weathered white block building with broken windows beside US 69 in Picher, cars passing on the highwayGuide

Picher

36.98, -94.83

Ottawa County

The richest field in the Tri-State lead and zinc district built a town of more than 14,000 people. Mining left the ground undermined and the water…

Superfund siteOther mining and oil
Main Street in Quapaw, a wide two-lane road with low brick storefronts and a Route 66 shield painted on the pavementGuide

Quapaw

36.96, -94.79

Ottawa County

The first town on Route 66 in Oklahoma, a hay-shipping stop that boomed with the lead and zinc mines and shrank when they closed. It had 811 people…

Living town · 811 people (2020)Farm and ranchRoute 66
CardinGuide

Cardin

36.98, -94.85

Ottawa County

A lead and zinc town on the southwest edge of Picher. It held 2,640 people in 1920, and like its neighbor it was bought out and emptied. The newest…

Abandoned · 2008 photoOther mining and oil
A two-story false-front building clad in weathered corrugated metal in Ingalls, with lower wooden false fronts beside it and a tree at rightGuide

Ingalls

36.10, -96.88

Payne County

A land-run farm town that sheltered the Doolin-Dalton gang. On September 1, 1893, a posse of deputy marshals rode in, and three of them died. The…

Small communityFarm and ranch
A cream stucco filling station with a red tile roof, arched bays and two red gas pumps beside Route 66 in AftonGuide

Afton

36.70, -94.96

Ottawa County

A railroad town on Route 66 that peaked at 1,518 people in 1920 and lost its traffic to the turnpike in 1957. About 730 people still live here, among…

Living town · 734 people (2020)Railroad and roadRoute 66
The weathered wooden Magnolia service station in Texola, its canopy sagging, beside a streetGuide

Texola

35.22, -99.99

Beckham County

The last Oklahoma town on Route 66 before Texas. It peaked at 581 people in 1930, lost the highway traffic to I-40 in 1975, and now has a few dozen…

Living town · 43 people (2020)Railroad and roadRoute 66
Map around Boggy DepotGuide

Boggy Depot

34.32, -96.31

Atoka County

A Choctaw and Chickasaw town on the Texas Road, a Butterfield stage stop and a Confederate supply depot. The railroad missed it in 1872. Its…

Chickasaw Nation parkRailroad and road
A row of red brick storefronts with blue awnings along an empty concrete street in DepewGuide

Depew

35.80, -96.51

Creek County

A railroad and oil town that Route 66 passed through for less than two years. The highway moved north in 1928, and Depew's Main Street is now a row…

Living town · 411 people (2020)Railroad and roadRoute 66
The frame and stucco front of the Meers Store and Restaurant with a row of motorcycles parked on the highway shoulderGuide

Meers

34.78, -98.58

Comanche County

Oklahoma's best-known gold rush built a camp of maybe 3,000 people here in 1903. The gold never came, and one frame building is all that's left of…

OpenGold mining
Map around AmericaGuide

America

33.82, -94.55

McCurtain County

A railroad sawmill town of about 200 people in the pine woods of far southeastern Oklahoma, named for the postmaster's wife rather than the country.…

One family left · 2013 reportMill, lumber and company
WhizbangGuide

Whizbang

36.77, -96.71

Osage County

An oil strike in 1921 built a town of about 10,000 people on the Osage prairie. The post office called it Denoya; everyone else called it Whizbang.…

Ruins · 2022 reportOther mining and oil
Map around FossGuide

Foss

35.45, -99.17

Washita County

A farm town that a flood washed away in 1902 and that was rebuilt on the hill above. It had about 1,000 people by 1905 and 101 by 2020, with a ruined…

Living town · 101 people (2020)Farm and ranchRoute 66
All 16 guides, A to Z

Watch

Oklahoma's ghost towns in 30 seconds

Route 66 storefronts, a frontier community, and the legacy of mining. Explore the history, maps and access notes before you go.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Crimsonedge34 (CC BY-SA 3.0), Smallboy944 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Kelly K (CC BY-SA 2.0). Photos cropped, animated and overlaid with text. Map: US Census Bureau (public domain). Original music; synthesized Google Gemini Charon narration, with captions. Video adaptation: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where to start

Oklahoma's best-known ghost towns

Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.

Doaksville

34.03, -95.27

Choctaw County

Trading post of the 1820s that became the largest town in Indian Territory by 1850 and at times the Choctaw capital. Stone foundations line a signed trail run by the Oklahoma Historical Society at Fort Towson.

Historic site
Guide

Boggy Depot

34.32, -96.31

Atoka County

Town founded in 1837 on the Texas Road and bypassed by the Katy railroad in 1872. Little is left but the cemetery, inside Boggy Depot Park, a former state park now run by the Chickasaw Nation and open daily (October 2026).

Chickasaw Nation park

Skullyville

35.25, -94.59

Le Flore County

Town that grew around the Choctaw Agency after 1832, named for the Choctaw word for money. Bypassed by the railroad in 1895; little remains but the cemetery near Spiro, per a 2010 encyclopedia entry, now the Choctaw Nation's national cemetery. Visiting rules not confirmed.

Cemetery · 2010 report
A gray chat pile of mine waste at Picher in 2006Guide

Picher

36.98, -94.83

Ottawa County

Lead and zinc town of 14,252 people in 1926, emptied by a federal buyout that ended in 2011. Piles of toxic mine waste, called chat, still stand while cleanup goes on.

Superfund site
Concrete foundations and scattered stone in winter grass at Whizbang in 2013, with bare trees behindGuide

Whizbang

36.77, -96.71

Osage County

Oil boomtown of 1921, officially named Denoya, with about 10,000 people at its height. Little is left: foundations, sidewalks and old roads northwest of Shidler.

Ruins · 2022 report
The weathered wooden Magnolia service station in Texola, its canopy sagging, beside a dirt streetGuide

Texola

35.22, -99.99

Beckham County

Route 66 town at I-40's westernmost Oklahoma exit, which peaked at 581 people in 1930. 43 residents in 2020; its 1930 Magnolia service station is on the National Register.

Living town · 43 people (2020)
Guide

Ingalls

36.10, -96.88

Payne County

1889 land-run town east of Stillwater where U.S. marshals fought the Doolin-Dalton gang on September 1, 1893. A stone monument marks the fight; 192 people lived there in 2020.

Small community

Cloud Chief

35.25, -98.84

Washita County

First seat of Washita County, platted in 1892. It lost the county seat to Cordell in a 1900 vote and its post office in 1964, and only a few buildings remain. Current access not verified.

Not verified

Near a city

Ghost towns near Oklahoma City and Tulsa

Driving distance and time from downtown, routed over OpenStreetMap roads. Dirt roads are usually slower than the estimate.

Near Oklahoma City drive

  1. Ingalls72 mi1 h 29 min
  2. Cloud Chief97 mi2 h 04 min
  3. Boggy Depot130 mi2 h 45 min
  4. Whizbang131 mi2 h 32 min
  5. Texola151 mi2 h 39 min
  6. Doaksville214 mi3 h 44 min

Near Tulsa drive

  1. Ingalls54 mi1 h 08 min
  2. Whizbang84 mi1 h 54 min
  3. Picher96 mi1 h 47 min
  4. Skullyville119 mi2 h 09 min
  5. Boggy Depot146 mi2 h 58 min
  6. Doaksville176 mi3 h 17 min

Directory

All 259 Oklahoma sites

Every town, camp and settlement in our Oklahoma index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.

259 sites

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D

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F

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T

U

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Y

Z

Plan a trip

Visiting Oklahoma's ghost towns

01

Plan around storm season

Oklahoma averages about 59 tornadoes a year, and May is the peak, with about 24 on average. Spring trips need an eye on the forecast and a way to get warnings; Picher itself was hit by an EF4 tornado in May 2008.

02

Know who runs the site

Doaksville is an Oklahoma Historical Society site reached from Fort Towson Historic Site, which is open Tuesday to Saturday and charges $10 for adults. Boggy Depot Park is run by the Chickasaw Nation, and Skullyville's cemetery is the Choctaw Nation's national cemetery. Elsewhere, ask before you walk in: Whizbang's foundations, for example, sit near occupied houses and can be seen from the road.

03

Stay off the chat

The gray piles around Picher are mine waste. EPA testing found lead, cadmium and other heavy metals in the soil, and workers clearing the chat today wear protective gear and are tested for lead every month. Don't climb the piles or carry any home, and keep out of the abandoned buildings marked with danger signs.

04

Leave graves and artifacts alone

Digging at an archaeological site on state land needs a permit from the State Archaeologist. Oklahoma's burial law protects unmarked graves on state and private land alike, and anyone who finds human remains should stop and report them to law enforcement in that county. Metal detecting is banned in all Oklahoma state parks.

FAQ

Common questions

How many ghost towns are in Oklahoma?

About 2,000, by John W. Morris's estimate in Ghost Towns of Oklahoma, as reported by the Oklahoma Historical Society. His count includes towns that vanished and those that lost at least 80 percent of their peak population. Our index lists 259 sites so far, and some of them are small living towns.

Is Picher, Oklahoma still a town?

No. Picher stopped operating as a city on September 1, 2009, and was formally dissolved in 2013. The federal buyout of Picher and nearby Cardin was completed in 2011, after which only a handful of buildings stayed in use. Chat piles still stand, and the cleanup is expected to take decades more.

Which ghost towns are near Oklahoma City?

Ingalls, site of the 1893 gunfight, is about an hour and a half from downtown. Cloud Chief is about two hours west, and Whizbang, Texola and Boggy Depot are two and a half to three hours away.

Which ghost towns are near Tulsa?

Ingalls is a little over an hour west of Tulsa. Picher and Whizbang are both under two hours away, and Skullyville a little over two. Doaksville, in the far southeast, is about three and a quarter hours.

Can you visit Doaksville?

Yes. Doaksville is an interpreted archaeological site with a walking trail past stabilized stone ruins and signs. The trailhead is at Fort Towson Cemetery, 0.7 miles north of US 70 on Red Road in the town of Fort Towson. The nearby Fort Towson Historic Site, open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., has exhibits on the town.

Sources

  1. Ghost Towns, Linda D. Wilson, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, 2010: the count of about 2,000 and the causes of abandonment, with examples.
  2. Doaksville, Oklahoma Historical Society, October 2026: history, excavated foundations, trail and directions.
  3. Visit Fort Towson, Oklahoma Historical Society, October 2026: hours, fees and 2026 closure dates.
  4. Boggy Depot, Jon D. May, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, updated 2017: 1837 founding, railroad bypass, cemetery.
  5. Boggy Depot Park, TravelOK, Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, 2026: management by the Chickasaw Nation, open year round.
  6. Boggy Depot Park, Chickasaw Country, read October 2026: Boggy Depot Park open year-round, daily 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  7. Skullyville, Jon D. May, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2010: Choctaw Agency, name, railroad bypass, cemetery.
  8. Choctaw Nation Skullyville Cemetery Monument, American Legion: the cemetery as the Choctaw Nation's national cemetery.
  9. Picher, C. Allan Mathews and Frank D. Wood, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, updated 2019: founding, 1926 population, ore output, buyout, 2008 tornado.
  10. Picher, Oklahoma, Wikipedia, October 2026: dates the city ceased operations and was dissolved.
  11. Tar Creek (Ottawa County) cleanup activities, US EPA, 2025: chat piles, heavy metals, completion of the buyout in 2011.
  12. A closer look at the Tar Creek Superfund site in 2026, KJRH, March 2026: what remains in Picher and the ongoing chat cleanup.
  13. Whizbang, Oklahoma, Wikipedia, October 2026: 1921 boom, population, Denoya post office, remaining foundations.
  14. Hidden Gems, Visit the Osage, 2026: Whizbang as a site where almost nothing remains.
  15. Long gone, Whizbang prospered in the wild days of Oklahoma boomtowns, Heide Brandes, NonDoc, January 4, 2022: Whizbang as little more than a few rocky ruins.
  16. Texola, Oklahoma, Wikipedia, October 2026: Route 66, 1930 and 2020 census counts, Magnolia station.
  17. Ingalls, Oklahoma, Wikipedia, October 2026: 1889 settlement, 1893 gunfight, monument, 2020 census.
  18. Cloud Chief, Oklahoma, Wikipedia, October 2026: 1892 platting, county seat loss, post office closing, remaining buildings.
  19. Keokuk Falls, Oklahoma, Wikipedia, October 2026: liquor town on the Indian Territory line.
  20. Oklahoma tornadoes by month and year, National Weather Service Norman, 2026: yearly and May averages.
  21. Cultural Resource Management, Oklahoma Archeological Survey, updated December 2025: Antiquities Law permits and the burial desecration law.
  22. Metal Detecting in State Parks, America's State Parks, July 2026: Oklahoma's ban on metal detecting in state parks.
  23. Coordinates: Wikipedia and USGS GNIS for each site; Doaksville placed at its trailhead from Oklahoma Historical Society directions and OpenStreetMap.
  24. Drive times: OSRM routing on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), October 2026.
  25. Site index: ghosttowns.com Oklahoma lists and Wikipedia, October 2026. County outlines: US Census via us-atlas (public domain).

Photo credits

  1. Picher: formulanone, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
  2. Quapaw: TheWhitePelican, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
  3. Cardin: Tim Dowd, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
  4. Ingalls: Smallboy944, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. Afton: Mobilus In Mobili, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
  6. Texola: Crimsonedge34, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  7. Depew: Gorup de Besanez, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  8. Meers: Crimsonedge34, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  9. Whizbang: Japratt, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  10. Bridgeport: Sanborn Map Company (Library of Congress), Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
  11. Lehigh: CyrusTheMediocre, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
  12. Oakhurst: G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
  13. Picher: Kelly K, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
  14. Whizbang: Japratt, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  15. Texola: Crimsonedge34, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0