The Most Toxic City in America -- Picher, OK: A Modern Ghost Town

On a trip to Arkansas, rolling south along Hwy 69, we happened upon the (recently) abandoned -- in the last dozen years -- lead-poisoned town of Picher, Oklahoma.  With both of us being unaware of the existence of this place just beyond our state's border, it was quite shocking to drive into a town with a new-looking freshly-painted water tower proclaiming "Picher, Home of the Gorillas since 1918" ---  but there was no town, there were no houses, other than a cluster of brick duplexes near the water town, with a decidedly apocalyptic vibe. There was no window or door glass in any of them and the weeds were asserting dominance. 

Across the street from the water tower was what appeared to be a small memorial plaza. 

And a gorilla statue 

proudly noting a football state championship in 1984.

It's a "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" kind of town and we were through it before either of us could really register what we had just witnessed.  Steve did mention "holy crap, this looks like a Superfund town."  I'm 53 years old and I don't really know what "superfund" means, although I recall hearing the term when I was a kid back in the early 80s. We did not stop on our first trip through. I'll admit it gave me a creepy, disturbing vibe .... but I was also intrigued. I spent that evening once we arrived at our destination Googling "Picher, Oklahoma" and diving deep down the rabbit hole.  That sealed the deal.  Although we had intended to take a different route home, I convinced the husband to drive out of the way on the return trip so we could come back and explore Picher.

A brief history of Picher's rise and fall is provided on the placards that are placed at the memorial plaza with the gorilla statue. 

Picher was settled as a zinc/lead mining town in the 1920s and the mines were in operation until the 1970s. Lead from the mines was used to provide a large number of bullets in both World Wars. 

 

A remnant of the mining era.

As a residual of that mining activity, the town is surrounded by chat piles hundreds of feet high, very visible on Google satellite view. Mountains of carcinogenic and neurologic toxicity.

 

Google Maps satellite view demonstrating the dozens of chat piles surrounding Picher, Oklahoma.

For decades, kids played on these piles and families picnicked on them. Townspeople mixed the chat with cement to pour their driveways. They used the chat as filler in their kids' sandboxes. They even swam in the tailing ponds. 

 

The citizens undertook all these activities unaware of the extreme toxic danger this posed. The slag piles are composed of lead dust that poisoned the air they breathed and the water they drank, swam, and bathed in. 

One of the dozens of toxic lead piles that surrounds the town.

 

After swimming in the tailing ponds, they assumed they just had a sunburn, when in actuality their reddened skin was the result of chemical burns. 

 

It wasn't until the mid 1990s that awareness began to dawn. A school counselor and/or the Bureau of Indian Health (I've found both referenced) noted there were a large number of kids in the school district exhibiting learning difficulties. Eventually all the students were tested for lead and an overwhelming percentage tested positive for toxic lead levels. 

 

The school complex is fenced off with "No Trepassing - U.S. Govt" signs

The football field and track.

Assuming this is the gym.

The school building was built in 1987, but the extensive undermining throughout the town has made all structures susceptible to being swallowed by sinkholes.

 

The EPA designated the area the "Tar Creek Superfund" in 1983 and deemed the area uninhabitable. The federal government ordered the entire town to permanently evacuate and provided the citizens with federal funds for relocation. 

 

An EF4 tornado in 2008 accelerated that process, destroying 168 buildings in town and killing 6 people. That was the final nail in the coffin for the town.

 

Alta Street, which saw a direct hit from the tornado. Houses at one time lined this street.

In

Google Maps screenshot of Alta St, March 2008 (two months before the F4 tornado on 5/10/2008)

In May 2009, the school graduated its last class of 11 students and the school voted to disband the district.

On September 1, 2009, the state of Oklahoma officially disincorporated the city of Picher, which ceased official operations on that day. The population plummeted from 1,640 at the 2000 census to 20 at the 2010 census. (Source: Wikipedia)
 

A decade later, during our visit on a Sunday afternoon in July 2022, the place is devoid of human presence, other than vehicles blowing through at 65 mph on Highway 69.  Save for the bombed-out-looking brick duplexes, there is not a house left in a town that at the turn of this century was a community of 1600 people, where families once came home every night after a long day at work, ate meals, celebrated holidays and birthdays, did homework and went to bed, in preparation for doing it all again tomorrow.  

 

The Picher of 2022 is a surreal landscape of grids of asphalt streets (still in good condition) bisecting empty lots that have been reclaimed by nature. 

 

If a picture paints a thousand words, this one demonstrates the tragedy that is Picher. The infrastructure of modern civilization (the paved streets, the utilities, the public fire protection), now abandoned, while in the background looms a mountain of lead dust that brought illness and death to its citizens and the town itself. 

Picher is an environmental catastrophe that may never be completely mitigated. 

Video of our drive through Picher:

Three Guided Bike Tours You Shouldn't Miss in North America

In our quest to ride our bikes in all 50 states, we have discovered we like to spend the first day in a new city joining in a guided group bike tour. We find that exposes us to sites we likely would have overlooked when just riding on our own, as well as provides us with an educational and informative tour of the local area. 

Here are three of our favorite tours we've partaken in, each with its own distinctive flavor!

Buzz NOLA Electric Bike Tour - New Orleans

Buzz NOLA provides a unique urban bike tour not to be missed, both for the adventure of experiencing New Orleans on two wheels, and the education you receive from a knowledgeable tour guide. 

Our guide, Jim, was a retired NPR radioman, and a reliable source of well-researched information. I can't remember the exact journalistic term Jim used, but he expressed it repeatedly, and it was something along the lines of "always verify with three credible sources." Sounds like sound advice for life. 

Before the tour began, we were fitted for our rental bikes and helmets, and briefed on operating the throttle on the electric bikes. We also received safety instructions regarding riding in urban traffic, with a lesson on the arm gestures Jim would use to help us navigate together through intersections. 

Then, we were off on our three-hour biking adventure through the streets of New Orleans! Steve filmed video with the Contour Roam strapped to his bike, while I used the handheld camera to record video and shoot stills. This required multitasking to the extreme as I held the camera in my right hand, but also needed that hand to work the throttle while navigating city streets with heavy traffic. Yikes!!!!

The ride included stops at multiple points of interest, including Buckner Mansion, the setting of a couple seasons of American Horror Story. I played around with photo composition while Jim regaled us with spooky tidbits about the mansion.

The spine-tingling stories continued at the corner of Coliseum Street and Washington Avenue, the site of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. 

It started to rain big, spattery drops as Jim filled our heads about the method of decomposing bodies in these tombs, and the origin of the term "dead ringers." Very atmospheric.  

After being sufficiently creeped out from the cemetery, we rode down Prytania Street to Audubon Park where we got a break from street riding for a while, as we traversed a smooth bike/pedestrian trail through the park.

The next knowledge stop on the tour was at Parkway Poboys where Jim gave us the history of how the sandwich known as the poor boy came about, and I snagged a picture of this cute pink bicycle. 

We experienced the Treme neighborhood, stopping at the Tomb of the Unknown Slave at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Also, if you've never watched Treme on HBO, you should.

The final leg back to the bike shop took us through the French Quarter. Again, trying to juggle the camera, the throttle and the *narrow* traffic-to-bike ratio through here was not for the faint of heart!!

The Buzz NOLA electric bike tour was an almost 17-mile ride. What an amazing experience! Look them up if you are ever in New Orleans and want a completely different way to see the sights and get some good exercise at the same time. You will not be disappointed! 

Buzz NOLA
www.buzznola.com
504-533-9688

 

EZRideLV Electric Bike Tour - Las Vegas

The EZRideLV self-guided electric bike tour through Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas is a breathtaking experience, one we highly recommend as a departure from the usual sex and sin offerings of the Strip. 

EZRideLV owner Laurent was very responsive to our initial phone call and communication with him from that point on was timely and efficient. He texted us a link to waivers for us to e-sign the night before our ride. 

We paid the extra money ($114 per person with hotel pickup/$89 per person without) to have him pick us up from the front door of our hotel, another process which went very smoothly with excellent communication. 

The $114 price of the tour included electric bike rental, helmet and glove rental, as well as granola bars and three bottles of water per rider, provided in the bag attached to the handlebars. 

Tip: Because these are electric bikes with a battery mounted on the downtube, there is no water bottle holder on the bike. Therefore, if you like cold water with ice in your own containers (as we do), you will need to wear a backpack with bottle holders on it. I'm glad I came prepared with my mine!

From our hotel it was about a 20-minute ride in Laurent's truck to the suburb of Summerlin, our jumping off point. After donning our gloves and helmets and adjusting our seats, Laurent gave us a 10-minute safety briefing as well as directions of where we would be riding along the highway to get to the Red Rock Canyon Park; a printed map was also available in the plastic pocket on the top of the handlebar bag. 

He provided us with cash for the $5 per person entry fee to gain access to the park, as well as instructions of when to text him to keep in communication with him (when we reached High Point Lookout and again when we were exiting the park). 

He explained that it is five miles uphill to the point of the High Point Lookout, and then 13 miles downhill from there. He cautioned we would get up some pretty good speed downhill — 30 mph or more — and to not follow behind a vehicle too closely, in the event they brake unexpectedly. He instructed us our ride should take approximately 2 1/2-hours and to text him if we had any troubles with the bikes, as he would come take care of them and us. 

After a quick lesson on how to operate the electric bikes with a couple test laps around the parking lot to ensure we were comfortable riding them, he waved us off on our adventure! 

It was about four miles riding on the 50 mph Highway 159. Laurent called it riding in a bike lane; I called it riding on the shoulder! 😬 As we are not normally road cyclists, I wasn't terribly fond of being out on a busy highway, but we survived it! 

Once we entered Red Rock Canyon, it was one-way traffic along a 35 mph loop through the park.

After photo ops at the top of the High Point Lookout, it was back on the bikes for some prolonged coasting! 

Once we crested, you can see it was quite a downhill on the other side. We did hit some exhilarating speed at this point. 

This sign designated the exit from the park, which was our second place from which to text Laurent.

We embarked on the highway portion of the ride back into Summerlin, with more than one Ferrari blowing by us at Ferrari speed. (Insert zoomy sound effects here.) 

All in all, this was a unique experience filled with the natural beauty of the American West. We highly recommend it! 

EZRideLV
www.ezridelv.com
702-605-2201

Routes Bicycle Tours - Santa Fe, New Mexico

A great way to experience the eclectic offerings of New Mexico is the Routes Bicycle Tours' Santa Fe City Art and History Tour. If history is your thing, or art is your thing, or Game of Thrones is your thing: This one is for you! 

The two-hour tour is available every day at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at a cost of $70-$75 per person, depending on rental bike needs.

Meetup with the tour group was in the lobby of the historic La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel in the heart of downtown. Stops at other historic structures of Old Santa Fe included the Loretto Chapel,

the San Miguel Mission, 

and the oldest home in the USA, circa 1646.

The oldest house also apparently has the narrowest doorway.

Then it was on to Canyon Road art district. There was art ...... art everywhere! 

The turreted building once was a schoolhouse, now is an art gallery. 

This girl LOVES cats and there were enough feline artistic renderings to make her heart go pitter-pat. 

This tour covered just over 6 miles of riding, and included quite a bit of getting off the bike and walking around — more than his back liked, so here he is resting on a padded bench. 

While he rested, I took the opportunity to photograph a garden full of steel origami art. 

Next the tour took us to the newest, hippest gathering spot in town, the Santa Fe Railyard district.

Once the site of a bustling train depot, with two standard gauge rail lines, a narrow gauge rail line and a roundhouse used to rotate engines, the railyard was a central hub of the city until the 1950s when the interstate highway system and vehicular transportation replaced trains as America's preferred form of people moving. By the late 1980s, the district was declared an area of blight in need of redevelopment. Almost two decades later in 2005 that vision came to fruition. Today the Railyard is a refreshed entertainment and community-gathering district. 

 People moving still does happen by rail here as well, though. "The Railrunner" light rail commuter train makes the 1 1/2-hour trip between Santa Fe and Albuquerque multiple times daily. Bicycles are welcome on the train and there is no additional cost to board the train with your bike. Another charming feature (in addition to the great paint job): The train doors say "beep beep" when they open and close! 

Within the Railyard district is also where Game of Thrones fans will discover their very own mecca. GOT author George R.R. Martin lives in Santa Fe and owns this theater

with this incredible 3-D effect artwork gracing the back wall. 

The half of us that is a Game of Thrones fan thought he had died and gone to heaven! 

While this was the shortest mileage ride of the three tours reviewed in this article, it nevertheless provided us the opportunity to see and visit many parts of Santa Fe we would not have discovered on our own. We recommend it as a great way to spend a morning or afternoon exploring the city. 

Routes Bicycle Tours and Rentals
routesrentals.com/tours
505-933-5667

America has much to see and one of the best ways is from the seat of a bike. We encourage you to join in on one of these tours for an experience you won't soon forget!

Have you taken any of these tours? What did you think?  Leave us a comment below!