Hockerville, Oklahoma

Coordinates: 36°59′38″N 94°46′52″W / 36.99389°N 94.78111°W / 36.99389; -94.78111
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hockerville, Oklahoma
UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID1093811[1]

Hockerville is a ghost town in northern Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States.[1] Hockerville was a mining community near the Kansas-Oklahoma border; it once had more than 500 residents. At least 18 mines operated in the Hockerville area in 1918 alone.

Geography

The community was located just south of the Kansas-Oklahoma border between Picher to the west and Baxter Springs, Kansas, to the northeast.[2]

History

The settlement was named for Leslie C. Hocker, an early resident.[3] A post office operated from 1918 to 1963.[3]

Circa 1918, Hockerville was billed as "the young, substantial, and progressive young city of the Oklahoma Mining District"; the area was home to at least 18 mines.[4]

Hockerville's population was 550 in 1940.[5]

The area was mined for zinc ore and lead from the early 1900s to the late 1970s, leaving in a 40-square-mile (100 km2) area—which includes Hockerville—contaminated by toxins, and part of the

Tar Creek Superfund Site.[6]

Education

Picher-Cardin Public Schools, which was the local school district, closed in 2009.[7] The area was placed into Quapaw Public Schools.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hockerville, Oklahoma
  2. ^ a b Shirk, George H.; Wright, Muriel H. (1974). Oklahoma Place Names. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 117.
  3. ^ "Hockerville!". Miami Daily Record-Herald. June 5, 1918. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  4. ^ The Attorneys List. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Attorney List Department. 1940. p. 776. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  5. ^ "Tar Creek Superfund Site - Ottawa County, OK". Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Gillham, Omer; Stogsdill, Sheila (May 17, 2009). "Picher school says farewell to last 11". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  7. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021. - Compare to the highway map.
  8. ^ "Ottawa County" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.