Hockerville, Oklahoma

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Hockerville, Oklahoma
Ghost town
Hockerville, Oklahoma (1918).jpg
Hockerville, 1918
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Hockerville, Oklahoma
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Hockerville, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 36°59′38″N94°46′52″W / 36.99389°N 94.78111°W / 36.99389; -94.78111
Country United States
State Oklahoma
County Ottawa
Elevation
[1]
853 ft (260 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) 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.

Contents

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]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hockerville, Oklahoma
  2. ↑ Oklahoma Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1st ed., 1998, p. 27 ISBN   0899332838
  3. 1 2 Shirk, George H.; Wright, Muriel H. (1974). Oklahoma Place Names. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 117.
  4. ↑ "Hockerville!". Miami Daily Record-Herald. June 5, 1918. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Ottawa County, OK" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021. - Compare to the highway map.
  9. ↑ "Ottawa County" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
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