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.
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]
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]
^"Hockerville!". Miami Daily Record-Herald. June 5, 1918. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
^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.
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