In the early 1900s, this four square mile area was alive with up to 15 coal mines, four of which were considered major producers.
Located midway between McAlester and Wilburton in southeast Oklahoma is the ghost town of Adamson. Whether you’re researching your family’s genealogy or are just looking to satisfy your curiosity, turn off the main road and discover the fascinating history of Oklahoma’s ghost towns. Many are on private property.With a history full of Land Runs, Native American territories, Civil War battles and railroads, Oklahoma’s past is full of towns that sprung up overnight and faded away just as quickly. More than a score of these towns have enough life in spite of the ravages of vandals and weather to be interesting to the special breed of human whose eyes light up at the mention of them. Quite a few towns have a number of inhabitants. If you look, you can read the names of legendary people written in the dust: Johnny Ringo, Russian, Bill, Toppy Johnson, Roy Bean, Butch Cassidy, Madame Varnish, Black Jack Ketchum, Mangas Coloradas, Billy the Kid, James Cooney. They molder into oblivion, their shells of buildings like specters against the sky, these towns that witnessed some of America’s most romantic and rapacious history.Īnd if you listen, you can hear the names of fabled mines whispered on the wind: Bridal Chamber, Confidence, Little Hell, Calamity Jane, Hardscrabble, Mystic Lode, North Homestake, Little Fanny, Spanish Bar. Literally hundreds of towns not only died, they vanished.īy some estimates, New Mexico is home to more than 400 ghost towns - most are nothing more than a few foundations and some occasional mining equipment.īut traces of many linger on, haunting ties to days that used to be.
A few were farming communities that flourished for a time and mysteriously fell silent. Most were mining towns, where men lusted after the earth’s riches - gold, silver, turquoise, copper, lead and coal.
But in the late 1800s, each had a moment of glory that blazed and died like a sudden flame."
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