The End Of Picher
Life Without People
Photos by John Schehrer
For decades, Picher and other mining towns in Ottawa County have been on a decline. When the mines began to play out, people moved away and stores were closed. In the 1950s a large area of Main street was condemmed and stores were torn down. Now, the pollution from lead and other heavy metals as well as danger of cave-ins has spelled the end and Picher and Cardin are now ghost towns and will soon be gone. This section shows the town as it is at the end
Two years without people and Connell Ave is a street of dead and crumbling buildings. The only people to be seen are contractors moving out gravel and demolishing old houses.
Five years without people. These old houses are rapidly succumbing to vandals and the elements. Brush and weeds are rapidly reclaiming the land
Another old house is all that is left here. A large chat pile looms in the background.
Ten years without people, this old church building awaits the wrecking crew.
