Hockerville, Oklahoma | |
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![]() Hockerville, 1918 | |
Coordinates: 36°59′38″N 94°46′52″W / 36.99389°N 94.78111°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oklahoma |
County | Ottawa |
Elevation | 853 ft (260 m) |
Time zone | UTC-6 ( Central (CST)) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
GNIS feature ID | 1093811 [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.
The community was located just south of the Kansas-Oklahoma border between Picher to the west and Baxter Springs, Kansas, to the northeast. [2]
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]
Picher-Cardin Public Schools, which was the local school district, closed in 2009. [7] The area was placed into Quapaw Public Schools. [8] [9]