OU Researcher Unveils Book of Oklahoma’s Ghost Towns

By

Date

Media Contact

NORMAN, OKLA. – Ghost towns have fascinated Jeffrey Schmidt, an associate professor of marketing and innovation at the University of Oklahoma, since the late 1990s. Now, after four years of academic research and road trips across the state, he has published Here Today: Oklahoma’s Ghost Towns, Vanishing Towns, and Towns Persisting against the Odds – a book that examines 100 interesting towns from the panhandle to the Red River.

"Whether you’re someone who likes stories of daring prison escapes and notorious murders or learning about the history of ‘whiskey towns’ and All-Black settlements, this book has something you’ll enjoy,” he said. “I loved traveling Oklahoma’s highways and dirt roads and I’m excited for readers to explore Oklahoma’s small towns and the stories that make them unique.”

Schmidt joined the University of Oklahoma in 2005 and soon thereafter purchased Ghost Towns of Oklahoma, the best-selling 1978 book by John Morris from University of Oklahoma Press. He used that book as a travel guide for nearly 15 years. In 2020, after discussions with OU Press, Schmidt agreed to write an updated field guide to Oklahoma’s ghost towns.

“I knew that this was going to be a really big, really important project that could touch a lot of people’s lives,” he said. “As an academic, when you write a textbook, you must update it every two or three years. But once I publish this book, it will live on for 30, 40, even 50 years.”

Using more than 1,200 sources, many of which were provided by the Western History Collection at the University of Oklahoma, Schmidt compiled a list of 100 towns that he classified as ghost towns, vanishing towns or abandoned sites. He considers a ghost town to be a semi-abandoned site with a small population, a few businesses, buildings and houses that are largely abandoned, but sometimes can have an operable U.S. post office. A vanishing town has a shrinking population, but its businesses, schools and post office are still in operation.

“My goal was to write a book that included interesting stories,” he said. “I literally put more than 8,000 on my car driving to 300 towns across Oklahoma. I went to the town where Jim Thorpe was baptized, the town where Will Rogers had his first job at a rodeo, the town that was hit by two different tornadoes on the same day, and the town where the dying founder gave the property deed to every family renting a house from him before he passed. These are just a few of the stories I uncovered during my adventures.”

Among the towns Schmidt included are 11 of the 14 remaining historic All-Black towns in Oklahoma. These towns were founded by emancipated Black men and women between 1863 and 1920, and were locations where they could live without prejudice.

“John Morris didn’t include any of these towns in his 1978 book, probably because he didn’t know anyone who could provide him information; plus, the internet didn’t yet exist,” Schmidt said. “Sadly, when you go to these towns today, you can still see the legacy of discrimination. Many don’t have paved roads. Some have bridges in disrepair. Only two still have post offices. These places have been under-resourced for so many years, but their stories deserves to be told – so I’m excited to include them.”

Completing this book was a labor of love for Schmidt. Not only does he hope that people will enjoy reading each unique story, but he hopes to spur economic interest in these small Oklahoma towns.

“Grab your family or friends, pack a snack and go check these places out. Get gas if there's a gas station; grab a burger if there's a burger joint; maybe even consider moving there,” he said. “As someone who now considers themselves an author and a storyteller, I can promise that these small towns offer unique experiences. You just have to see them for yourself.”

Learn more about Schmidt’s research in the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma and follow him on LinkedIn to learn more about his book, Here Today: Oklahoma’s Ghost Towns, Vanishing Towns, and Towns Persisting against the Odds.