OKLAHOMA: Forgotten, Fading Rural Towns - Far Off The Interstate

I was a Canadian trucker. Ran Canada and all USA for 40 years. My favorite loads were the ones going off the beaten path. The people were more social and friendly. Almost everyone had interesting stories to tell. No matter how small the town was, they could talk for hours about its history. I picked up a load of charcoal in the middle of nowhere in the Ozarks. One of the workers wanted to know about Canada and invited me to his home for dinner. well, talk about hillbilly heaven lol. I had one of the best dinner and visit I could remember. What a great family. But seeing those types of things disappearing is a real crime.

I am disabled and don't travel much ! but I really enjoy riding along with you !

My father covered the church steeple in sheet metal in 1978 using scaffolding. This was his first job after starting his own Sheet Metal Company.

I’m originally from Enid. Many of the people who live in these towns work in or around Enid. I have been to every one of these towns. They all originated primarily as farm towns built around their grain elevators.

Shout out from Cherokee Ok. Thanks for featuring our small town. Next time you're near Cherokee check out some of the sights. We have the salt flats that host the only place in the world to dig Hour Glass Selenite Crystals. There is the Great Salt Plains Lake and Devine Waters Artisian Well about 15 min. N.E. of Cherokee. Main Street has the pocket park that's just a cool little park that was put in between two of the downtown buildings when the middle building had to be brought down and there was just an empty gap there. Also thought you might be interested to know that the old hotel you highlighted is a veterans museum.

I’m enjoying these stories, they tell part of why America is the way it is.

Unreal, I have never seen these towns in my own state. Thanks, a lot!

thank you for sharing stay safe and comfortable in driving ....

I live around the Chickasha area. I have been to Fairview, Hennessey, Okeene, Canton, and Cleo Springs. Love the small towns in my state!

Living in Australia, it's interesting "visiting" these towns.Thanks for sharing.

All these towns were wonderful in their heyday when the wheat fields were thriving and the oil fields were booming. There was a German prisoner of war camp just west of Alva by the cemetery and at Freedom it has alabaster caverns where you can go way below ground in the caves. Little Shara state park is out there too with the sand dunes and the great Salt planes state park east of Cherokee. Don’t forget Twister was filmed out there in Wakeeta. Thanks for touring our state 😊. Come back again

That big gun "tank" is called a self-propelled howitzer. I saw loads of them in Ft. Sill, OK. Love that state, and I'm from Southern California. Just loved the small towns I saw while in the military.

In 1999 and part of 2000, I lived in Claremore and worked in Tulsa. On the weekends I would go for drives out in the country. Even then many of the small towns I drove through looked the ones in your video. The farther away from a large city, the more quiet and desolate looking.The area east of Tulsa, going toward Arkansas has some very nice hills/foothills.

My dad 👤 use to take us to small towns thank you God bless you

Thanks for proving to my wife I'm not crazy! I'm always driving through small towns touring their downtowns and every time I see a theater I point it out as well! I'm originally from Eufaula, OK, I vibrant small town, but no theaters, they had two in the fifties.

The grain elevators are always where the railroad tracks are or used to be. The roads are usually named railroad, railway, front, commerce, or named after the railroad. The towns that have a future still have railroad traffic. Where the railroad has left the towns are usually fading.

Canton has one of the best walleye lakes in the state,that being Canton lake

Have an excellent week everyone!

I will spend my entire life living a nice peaceful quiet small town life, being considered living in poverty, then spend one day living in a city.

I appreciate your filming style and commentary. Always searched for something in a style like this, finding your channel was like finding a treasure. Thanks and have a good journey!