In Garber, at 26:45 that single standing grain silo with the white diamonds around the top, I was on the crew that built that one and one in Lahoma OK.. around 1984-85 😎
I'm North of Boston but it's a bummer to me that small towns that were once part of Americana's history are fading away for good. However, as always, Thank you for taking us along for the ride and explaining the history of these towns and others like them Joe.
There's still hope for some. Mine was in a similar (maybe not quite as bad) state of disrepair yet turned around and became a destination town by leveraging our history to attract tourism. Nearly every building on our once abandoned square is now home to many small businesses and shops. Born and raised here I've watched it go from a near ghost town to a lively, charming, and growing small town. It takes drastic changes, lots of investment, and dedicated leadership, but it's possible to bring some of these towns back to life. There's potential in many of these places, especially in those within a reasonably drivable distance from larger cities.
When I think of the people that spent their lives in these towns it stirs my imagination of the history and memories left behind. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us Joe!
One thing that keeps my attention is in every town you visit, no matter how desolate it is, nor how low the income is, almost everyone is riding around in a newish or new vehicle. House is falling in, but they have a new vehicle on $475.00 a week income. Can't afford to invest in their house but they gotta have that new truck, which costs more than their house in a lot of instances. With the mentality these people have it is no wonder their towns are falling apart. Thank you for the videos and this travel through what used to be.
Garber was the least desolate of the towns it looked like. And 3 cats! I never can get over the fact that people really live in these places. Thank's for showing everything, and the history of them. 😊
Not all people. Just some people & some cats & dogs. A small town close to the rural home where I was raised, some folks had miniature ponies , others had peacocks!
Good Saturday morning everyone, it's cold here this morning in Texas. These little towns in Oklahoma look very quiet and even make me feel colder. Thank you for the tour.
"Cold" in Texas, hehe. If it's cold in Texas, then I don't want to know what I'm dealing with right now in the Mountains of the North-East... with all the snow on my lawn and freezing temps this evening (it's 19f right now at 6:20pm, and supposed to drop down to 5f degrees tonight). lol. But truthfully, I hope your having a good Saturday Night! 👋♥️
@@FreddyKruegerRealEstate I am an easy cold person. It is not very cold in Texas, that is why I like living in Texas. However, there are times when the weather changes, it is covered in "ice", the power went out and many people died 2 years ago. I cannot guess how people in the north handle the cold weather? As for me, I cannot stand the cold.
You could spend weeks wandering around the much bigger town of Enid. You should see Joe's video that is only all about that town, if you haven't already. I think it's one of his best. The interesting well-kept neighborhoods as well as the downtown there overshadow what's rundown.
Calendar marked to note this momentous event of three towns and three cat sightings, with that bonus of multiple felines all hanging out together on one porch in the last town of Garber! Fascinating history attached to these Oklahoma towns. You create such compelling content with the historical photos interspersed throughout the narrative. Very excited to hear about your plans for the coming year.
@05:06, that object on the left hand side of the frame is a safe, a very cool round safe, the front of his screws into the body of the safe. very very cool.
Just a quick correction. The Cherokee never lived on the strip. It was a hunting ground only for them. Cherokee nation was in NE Oklahoma. The strip is northwest Oklahoma.
I'm from Oklahoma. Lived here my whole life here in Tulsa. I've always known Cherokee Nation to be NE Oklahoma up near Locust Grove, Salina and Tahlequah. I always knew that Tahlequah is where the Cherokee Indian affairs office is. I am unsure if the Cherokees ever lived on the strip but it'd be worth looking in to I guess. I think it was a hunting grounds but I could definitely be wrong.
Interesting video. These small towns in Oklahoma are very similar to the small towns in Oklahoma where I grew up. In my area, the peak of the towns was around 1930 during an oil boom. They have been declining ever since. The only exceptions being the ones near Oklahoma City. One note, in the area I grew up in, the income of the people who own the still producing oil wells can be much higher than the average of the area, skewing the numbers.
I was born in Oklahoma City. My family is from Okarche and ElReno. Many of them still live there. My grandparents were farmers and grandpa was a business man after farming.
Cat sightings always put a smile on my face. We travel with both of our cats in our big motorhome. They travel well. Thanks Joe for your videos. One of my favorite segments of your videos are the dinners you and Nic do at the end. Lately, I have been missing those. Safe travels to you as always and will be looking forward to your next videos. ….Russell D.
For me as an European it is quite noticeable, how the US is still massively affected by the great Depression nearly 100 years ago. Basically, the whole Midwest demographics collapsed afterwards or at least deteriorated.
Much of the country recovered and prospered from the '40s thru the '60s, but increasing mechanization and conglomerates buying and consolidating farms began the second downfall in the early '80s.
Same with Appalachia from that time, and Parts of the south east from even further back during the Civil War. The US is nowhere near what is portrayed on TV, because only 10% of the geography are the places they film (the same nice cities too). When in reality there are few places on the planet with the amount of land and people as the US, who are as economically and geographically stratified to such a degree. Wealth gap between even the middle class and the poor, would be the wealth gap between the rich and poor in many countries. And the gap between the rich in the US and the middle class is unimaginable (the sort of thing you would see in countries with a dictator). But unfortunately Hollywood and politicians have been very careful to keep the spotlight on California, New York, Florida, Texas and Washington - to present america as the most wonderful place full of wealth and beautiful women. Even people living in those cities and places like California don't see what middle America (the majority) live like. To make matters worse: over the century after the civil war, and decades that proceeded the Depression - the industries that allowed most of middle America to once prosper (coal mining, lumber, farming, steel, manufacturing, chemicals, etc)... They were stripped of their value, people laid off, and those industries outsourced to China/India/Mexico/Africa/Thailand/Taiwan/etc.. There were places where immense resources and labor existed. Yet the pople for whome own those lands and resources were tricked and made into laborers harvesting/mining their land stolen and shipping their minerals, good and coal away to the big cities (states without such things) and cross the globe... And almost _none_ of that profit stayed in those places, never was given back to the people whose families owned those lands, and never reinvested into education, healthcare or building the population centers. By the late 90s (early 00s) almost everything had been long outsourced or automate - and what we have now is the bulk of rural and middle america abandoned by billion and trillion dollar industries. That wealth and resources ...was sentt to massive centralized cities on the coast like New York, LA, San Francisco, DC, etc were the rich live. Reinvested into THEIR schools and cities. Places where (their descendants and kids) fortunatenyoung people today enjoy some of the highest pay on the planet, booming populations, lots to do, and the best healthcare and employment opportunities... While the grandson/daughter of a farmer, coal miner, steel worker, etc... most likely has little job opportunities, menial wages, poo/no health care and typically few things to do in dwindling populations. Its essentially an example of the American Dream: 'To exploit from others, and give to the fortune.' American is built on the backs of people of all races who were taken advantage of, and then left to toil in silence.
My husband grew up in Billings, OK near Garber. He remembers going there to hang out when he was a teenager. He said it's pretty similar 40 years later. He really enjoyed watching this video.
Love your channel. I especially like seeing the schools in small towns because in most small towns the schools are the center of activity. And I love seeing the football field too.
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip The hugeness of the recently built looking schools were amazing. It's like townspeople built them while believing there can be no future of a ghost town.
Makes sense too. I grew up just over the border in Kansas, and all my ancestors where either Irish or German. And MOST people in the Midwest are German. So ALOT of things were brought here by German immigrants.
I used to live in this area, anytime I got to return to civilization I had to drive through Covington and Garber. After being gone for 8 years, I still have nightmares that I am back in this area. Jefferson is an interesting area to go explore, can't do much by car, but by foot there is some good stuff to see.
The Cherokee lived in northeast Oklahoma, not the panhandle. The Cherokee were not part of the Confederacy, though some tribal members did fight with the Confederates.
I love all of your videos, but they are extremely sad. So many towns just fading away. Thank you for all the information you give us. And “cat spotting” is always fun for this old cat lady. Meow. 😻
Around 1980, I use to drive thru these areas going from Oklahoma City to Woodward, OK. Lots of oil drilling activity at that time based out of Woodward. I remember the wheat fields and some bad snow storms. Not much has changed from 1979-80 timeframe.
As usual great travels through forgotten rural USA. Wonderful cat sighting day ! Looking forward to your international vids coming up in 2025. Be safe Joe & Nicole. 🥰
Seeing the "Prairie City Days - May" mural has me wondering: when was the last one was. 1980s, maybe? The Dairy Sweet in Covington--nice to see that they're in business. (There's a Oklahoma News 4 report of the recent re-opening on youtube, pretty cool!) Congrats on the high cat count in this episode 🙂
Well, at least Garber tried with the wagon train mural. Loved the Covington Sweet stand. Very clean and neat. Schools seem new and kept up. Looking forward to your & Nic's travel news and international travel. ❤
Notable people from Marshall, none from the other two. Melvin Clodfelter (1904-1983), NCAA wrestling champion and Olympic wrestler (1932) Angie Debo (1890-1988), writer of Oklahoma and Native American history Ike Williams (1902-1988), football player at Georgia Tech and in the AFL (1926) and NFL (1929)
😻 Fun video Joe. Thanks for showing the history and current status of some interesting towns. Blood, sweat and tears was the norm of the day it seems . Tell Nicki hello 👋
When seeing these dying/dead towns, I can’t help but try and imagine when they were full and thriving. The excitement of new “downtown “ buildings and businesses. The joy and anticipation of entrepreneurs , as they put down stakes, made investments and opened their new businesses. And the homes. Growing families, celebrating holidays and birthdays, making memories, sharing each other’s pain and losses. All the life stories, with all of their hopes, disappointments and day to day living.
The Marshall kitty must be the mayor & police chief. It was definitely checking you out. lol The super wide main street is awesome! For the school in Covington to be so large and nice, it must be the consolidated school for the area. Garber has pretty murals. YAY!! Cats in Garber too!! I liked Garber best. The towns are sad to see dwindling away, but Garber seems to be holding on. Gotta hand it to Dollar General, they pop up where most needed. Thanks Joe. Looking forward to your 2025 travels.
It’s so sad when you go through these small towns and you find churches that have been abandoned. I believe it’s mostly because of the lack of people and the fact that we are moving away from God, when we should be drawing closer. ❤
how fun to travel such places , without any back thoughts that somebody is waiting for you or childrens are crying at home come back hurry up ! i wish i could live life like that . ❤
We miss the glamorous Nicole. We haven't seen her in a few videos now. Hope she is doing well. Thank you for another great video. I look forward to your future international travels.
I passed through that part of OK from Dodge, KS going down to OK City and end up visited the OK Bombed Buiding.. Yes, it s a vast plain of farmlands as far i can remember.
I'm envious, love a road trip, did three around the US in recent years. Always surprises me that there are so many poor areas in such a wealthy country. Love your work 👌👌🇬🇧🇺🇸
At 29:51 those cats and earlier in the vid and the chickens must have someone feeding the critters . The two big modern high schools shown must be consolidated schools having all 12 grades . Keep them coming and Happy trails .
I worked in the refinery in Ponca City some years ago. (16 years ago) I would go exploring on weekends. All through Ok,there are abandoned farms, with old abandoned homes,falling in. It’s really sad to see. I would stop at some of them, and wonder how many families have lived there over the years. How many newlyweds were proud to have a good home ,How many babies had been born there. Kids learning to ride bikes in the yard. How many first dates. How many young men left for war,never to be seen again by their parents. It sucks the air out of your lungs to think about it 😔 It’s heartbreaking.
I do like seeing these videos but sometimes they are just sad ...most all these towns were killed by the Conservative Coolidge ...History wants to blame Hoover but he stepped in just in time to catch a load of bricks left by the Cons deregulation of the stock market. saw another utube video ranking depression in the states ...Ok is like 4th in the nation for depression at almost 25% ...and that is a conservative estimate and at least that many are not even diagnosed i expect ...they just pop anothertop. And if u were to take the top 3% of income off the list which is more accurate ...i expect all those median incomes would be cut in half
Those trees and surroundings decay, reminds me the great movie from `99 "sleepy hollow", and such great tour. I so love to visit such places. Lucky you man, thanks
I'm in Tulsa. I was born and raised here. I don't think I'll ever move anywhere else. I'm in my mid 40's and although I think I've probably been to every small town in the state, it's always such a great feeling watching videos like this. It's always nostalgic for me. Great video!
That beautiful old abandoned house in Marshall looked very Addam's family! I guess those two towns with the big schools, bus kids from other small towns, they look very hi spec. Another great video, and the cat sightings, wow, it would have been a cat-astrophe to not see any, sorry couldn't help it!
Such a sad sight. Dreams, hopes and profitability faded. Yet for me, there is such beauty in towns like these. It's the America I would love to sightsee around.
Joe, love the show! Loved tge Erie Canal towns when you were in New York, next time your in the area, check out Culvrrt Road in Medina NY. Culvert Road is the only road where you can drive under the Erie Canal!
Great vid. Marshall, OK is exactly the kind of totally abandoned ghost business district I think your subscribers want to see, at least I do. This is a great ghost town. Stabilized a bit it would make a great movie set. I just can't see why anyone lives there anymore.
Thanks Joe, I have to wonder with no real tax base, how were the 2nd and 3rd towns able to build such nice schools? It’s great to see the investment in the younger generations 👍
From Garber here and have been subbed for awhile now. Glad you got to stop into our little town. Wish I would’ve been around to invite you guys over to the family’s house for dinner!
In Garber, at 26:45 that single standing grain silo with the white diamonds around the top, I was on the crew that built that one and one in Lahoma OK.. around 1984-85 😎
I was a forman for a concrete base for a grain bin for Cargill. One pour was 1,970 yards.
Impressive structure, could not tell those were diamonds around the top until you mentioned them.🙂
Nice damn
The horse and buggy painting on the building ABSOLUTELY AWESOME
I'm North of Boston but it's a bummer to me that small towns that were once part of Americana's history are fading away for good. However, as always, Thank you for taking us along for the ride and explaining the history of these towns and others like them Joe.
There's still hope for some. Mine was in a similar (maybe not quite as bad) state of disrepair yet turned around and became a destination town by leveraging our history to attract tourism. Nearly every building on our once abandoned square is now home to many small businesses and shops. Born and raised here I've watched it go from a near ghost town to a lively, charming, and growing small town. It takes drastic changes, lots of investment, and dedicated leadership, but it's possible to bring some of these towns back to life. There's potential in many of these places, especially in those within a reasonably drivable distance from larger cities.
When I think of the people that spent their lives in these towns it stirs my imagination of the history and memories left behind. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us Joe!
They were good towns to grow up in the ‘80s, even though most of us just wanted out back then. :-)
Indeed
One thing that keeps my attention is in every town you visit, no matter how desolate it is, nor how low the income is, almost everyone is riding around in a newish or new vehicle. House is falling in, but they have a new vehicle on $475.00 a week income. Can't afford to invest in their house but they gotta have that new truck, which costs more than their house in a lot of instances. With the mentality these people have it is no wonder their towns are falling apart.
Thank you for the videos and this travel through what used to be.
It's probably tough to a invest in something that has absolutely no future. At least the car can take you away.
House might be nice on the inside lol
Poor people don't have GAS money 😅
Maybe some are real cowboys making a decent living keeping cows and horses.
@soppaism hahaha Good Point
Garber was the least desolate of the towns it looked like. And 3 cats! I never can get over the fact that people really live in these places. Thank's for showing everything, and the history of them. 😊
You're welcome, Sarah!!
Not all people.
Just some people & some cats & dogs.
A small town close to the rural home where I was raised, some folks had miniature ponies , others had peacocks!
THANKS JOE AND NIC ❤😊
Good Saturday morning everyone, it's cold here this morning in Texas. These little towns in Oklahoma look very quiet and even make me feel colder. Thank you for the tour.
"Cold" in Texas, hehe. If it's cold in Texas, then I don't want to know what I'm dealing with right now in the Mountains of the North-East... with all the snow on my lawn and freezing temps this evening (it's 19f right now at 6:20pm, and supposed to drop down to 5f degrees tonight). lol. But truthfully, I hope your having a good Saturday Night! 👋♥️
@@FreddyKruegerRealEstate I am an easy cold person. It is not very cold in Texas, that is why I like living in Texas. However, there are times when the weather changes, it is covered in "ice", the power went out and many people died 2 years ago. I cannot guess how people in the north handle the cold weather? As for me, I cannot stand the cold.
From Scotland, I could spend days wandering around Marshall, truly fantastic.
It's a fascinating place.
You could spend weeks wandering around the much bigger town of Enid. You should see Joe's video that is only all about that town, if you haven't already. I think it's one of his best. The interesting well-kept neighborhoods as well as the downtown there overshadow what's rundown.
I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing such great work!
Thank you!!
Its great watching these towns you drive through especially wen you live in the uk thanks for entertaining us god bless
Nice weekend surprise to get home and find Joe and Nic on here
Stumbled across this video/channel. Fascinating as someone from the UK to see the interior of the States. Thanks for sharing.
Calendar marked to note this momentous event of three towns and three cat sightings, with that bonus of multiple felines all hanging out together on one porch in the last town of Garber! Fascinating history attached to these Oklahoma towns. You create such compelling content with the historical photos interspersed throughout the narrative. Very excited to hear about your plans for the coming year.
Awesome, thanks!!
I think this video would coincide quite well with some Ted Nugent playing in the background.
"Cat Scratch Fever" of course! ...lol
Like always, Joe I always enjoy your videos. Thank you.😊
Came to show my support. Thanks for sharing and have a great day. 👍🌹☕☕
@05:06, that object on the left hand side of the frame is a safe, a very cool round safe, the front of his screws into the body of the safe. very very cool.
Thank you! For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what that was. Looked interesting, though!
Thank you jimburg, like the poster below I wondered what on earth that could be.
Wonderful tour of these old towns, complete with fascinating history. The carpenter gothic style is beautiful. Thank you!
Thanks, Loretta!
Just a quick correction. The Cherokee never lived on the strip. It was a hunting ground only for them. Cherokee nation was in NE Oklahoma. The strip is northwest Oklahoma.
Thanks. I'm gonna check it out
I'm from Oklahoma. Lived here my whole life here in Tulsa. I've always known Cherokee Nation to be NE Oklahoma up near Locust Grove, Salina and Tahlequah. I always knew that Tahlequah is where the Cherokee Indian affairs office is. I am unsure if the Cherokees ever lived on the strip but it'd be worth looking in to I guess. I think it was a hunting grounds but I could definitely be wrong.
It's 8:43 am central time.
Love your road trips. Have a great weekend.
Interesting video. These small towns in Oklahoma are very similar to the small towns in Oklahoma where I grew up. In my area, the peak of the towns was around 1930 during an oil boom. They have been declining ever since. The only exceptions being the ones near Oklahoma City. One note, in the area I grew up in, the income of the people who own the still producing oil wells can be much higher than the average of the area, skewing the numbers.
I was born in Oklahoma City. My family is from Okarche and ElReno. Many of them still live there. My grandparents were farmers and grandpa was a business man after farming.
Cat sightings always put a smile on my face. We travel with both of our cats in our big motorhome. They travel well. Thanks Joe for your videos. One of my favorite segments of your videos are the dinners you and Nic do at the end. Lately, I have been missing those. Safe travels to you as always and will be looking forward to your next videos. ….Russell D.
They'll be back in about a week. :)
That first town is a heartbreaker 😢. Interesting history that you provide! Thank you! I miss Nic…Hi Nic! 👋
For me as an European it is quite noticeable, how the US is still massively affected by the great Depression nearly 100 years ago. Basically, the whole Midwest demographics collapsed afterwards or at least deteriorated.
Not just the depression but the dust bowl which affected a lot of the Midwest.
Much of the country recovered and prospered from the '40s thru the '60s, but increasing mechanization and conglomerates buying and consolidating farms began the second downfall in the early '80s.
Same with Appalachia from that time, and Parts of the south east from even further back during the Civil War. The US is nowhere near what is portrayed on TV, because only 10% of the geography are the places they film (the same nice cities too).
When in reality there are few places on the planet with the amount of land and people as the US, who are as economically and geographically stratified to such a degree. Wealth gap between even the middle class and the poor, would be the wealth gap between the rich and poor in many countries.
And the gap between the rich in the US and the middle class is unimaginable (the sort of thing you would see in countries with a dictator). But unfortunately Hollywood and politicians have been very careful to keep the spotlight on California, New York, Florida, Texas and Washington - to present america as the most wonderful place full of wealth and beautiful women.
Even people living in those cities and places like California don't see what middle America (the majority) live like. To make matters worse: over the century after the civil war, and decades that proceeded the Depression - the industries that allowed most of middle America to once prosper (coal mining, lumber, farming, steel, manufacturing, chemicals, etc)...
They were stripped of their value, people laid off, and those industries outsourced to China/India/Mexico/Africa/Thailand/Taiwan/etc..
There were places where immense resources and labor existed. Yet the pople for whome own those lands and resources were tricked and made into laborers harvesting/mining their land stolen and shipping their minerals, good and coal away to the big cities (states without such things) and cross the globe...
And almost _none_ of that profit stayed in those places, never was given back to the people whose families owned those lands, and never reinvested into education, healthcare or building the population centers.
By the late 90s (early 00s) almost everything had been long outsourced or automate - and what we have now is the bulk of rural and middle america abandoned by billion and trillion dollar industries.
That wealth and resources ...was sentt to massive centralized cities on the coast like New York, LA, San Francisco, DC, etc were the rich live. Reinvested into THEIR schools and cities. Places where (their descendants and kids) fortunatenyoung people today enjoy some of the highest pay on the planet, booming populations, lots to do, and the best healthcare and employment opportunities...
While the grandson/daughter of a farmer, coal miner, steel worker, etc... most likely has little job opportunities, menial wages, poo/no health care and typically few things to do in dwindling populations.
Its essentially an example of the American Dream: 'To exploit from others, and give to the fortune.' American is built on the backs of people of all races who were taken advantage of, and then left to toil in silence.
It was not the Depression that killed small plains towns like this, it was good roads, the automobile and mechanized agriculture.
Pump-Jacks: Not needed for fracking.
My husband grew up in Billings, OK near Garber. He remembers going there to hang out when he was a teenager. He said it's pretty similar 40 years later. He really enjoyed watching this video.
Over a thousand likes in four hours posted -- you are one popular dude!😊
Excellent..far more historical content and social commentary
.I look forward to your sdventures!!
Lot of interesting content. I enjoyed this video. Keep up the spirit of exploration.
Thanks!!
Love your channel. I especially like seeing the schools in small towns because in most small towns the schools are the center of activity. And I love seeing the football field too.
Awesome! Yes, I'm going to try and include schools in the videos going forward. People really seem to want to see them.
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip The hugeness of the recently built looking schools were amazing. It's like townspeople built them while believing there can be no future of a ghost town.
Another wonderful video sir. Thanks Joe!
Whow! Nice video Joe! Always very interesting!! Greetings from Holland
In Germany we call these pumps 'pferdekopf pumpe', or horse head pump. Thanks Joe, for the cat sightings 😁
Ok, I´m German too, but I've never heard of this word 🤔
@@brownhatknight3473 Me too, I am from Cologne, Germany, 64 years old, but I heard NEVER in my life such an expression...🤨
Makes sense too. I grew up just over the border in Kansas, and all my ancestors where either Irish or German. And MOST people in the Midwest are German. So ALOT of things were brought here by German immigrants.
Kannst du einfach mal googeln 😉
Another cool old theater 🎥
I used to live in this area, anytime I got to return to civilization I had to drive through Covington and Garber. After being gone for 8 years, I still have nightmares that I am back in this area. Jefferson is an interesting area to go explore, can't do much by car, but by foot there is some good stuff to see.
there's a Covington in Louisiana; it's not pronounced with a hard O like Joe says it
@@BGNOLAHe pronounced it wrong I’m from Covington.
I used to haul cattle from the sale barn in Covington on Saturday nights when I ran the sale barn circuit.
Amazing content! Keep up the great work, can't wait for your next video.
I loved seeing Garber High School (more updated school) Love everything about that town. Great murals too.❤❤
Joe's research and narrative is excellent and what makes these videos so good 😊
Every politician should view their videos and understand the country
The Cherokee lived in northeast Oklahoma, not the panhandle.
The Cherokee were not part of the Confederacy, though some tribal members did fight with the Confederates.
Thanks Joe and Nic that was a awesome history trip
Oh wow some international neighborhoods will be so interesting! Cannot wait! Great idea! 😊😊😊
We always go and check out these places on the map and then we catch ourselves talking about them in the same nice way you do (:
I love all of your videos, but they are extremely sad. So many towns just fading away. Thank you for all the information you give us. And “cat spotting” is always fun for this old cat lady. Meow. 😻
Around 1980, I use to drive thru these areas going from Oklahoma City to Woodward, OK. Lots of oil drilling activity at that time based out of Woodward. I remember the wheat fields and some bad snow storms. Not much has changed from 1979-80 timeframe.
JOE AND HIS CATS... HAHAHAH. THANKS FOR THESE TOURS OF AMERICA. I ALWAYS WATCH YOU WHENEVER I CAN. HAVE A GREAT YEAR OF VIDEOS ON YOUR CHANNEL !!!
As usual great travels through forgotten rural USA. Wonderful cat sighting day ! Looking forward to your international vids coming up in 2025. Be safe Joe & Nicole. 🥰
Seeing the "Prairie City Days - May" mural has me wondering: when was the last one was. 1980s, maybe? The Dairy Sweet in Covington--nice to see that they're in business. (There's a Oklahoma News 4 report of the recent re-opening on youtube, pretty cool!) Congrats on the high cat count in this episode 🙂
Well, at least Garber tried with the wagon train mural. Loved the Covington Sweet stand. Very clean and neat. Schools seem new and kept up. Looking forward to your & Nic's travel news and international travel. ❤
Notable people from Marshall, none from the other two.
Melvin Clodfelter (1904-1983), NCAA wrestling champion and Olympic wrestler (1932)
Angie Debo (1890-1988), writer of Oklahoma and Native American history
Ike Williams (1902-1988), football player at Georgia Tech and in the AFL (1926) and NFL (1929)
One of Angie Debos books is “The Marshall Years “
Thanks for your great videos!! Love how informative you are!!
Thank you
😻 Fun video Joe. Thanks for showing the history and current status of some interesting towns. Blood, sweat and tears was the norm of the day it seems . Tell Nicki hello 👋
I will!
As you're heading south, I hope you'll hit Ardmore on your way. Also, the small town of Springer just north of here has a Very interesting history.
Wow. Very interesting and impactful
When seeing these dying/dead towns, I can’t help but try and imagine when they were full and thriving. The excitement of new “downtown “ buildings and businesses. The joy and anticipation of entrepreneurs , as they put down stakes, made investments and opened their new businesses. And the homes. Growing families, celebrating holidays and birthdays, making memories, sharing each other’s pain and losses. All the life stories, with all of their hopes, disappointments and day to day living.
The Marshall kitty must be the mayor & police chief. It was definitely checking you out. lol The super wide main street is awesome! For the school in Covington to be so large and nice, it must be the consolidated school for the area. Garber has pretty murals. YAY!! Cats in Garber too!! I liked Garber best. The towns are sad to see dwindling away, but Garber seems to be holding on. Gotta hand it to Dollar General, they pop up where most needed. Thanks Joe. Looking forward to your 2025 travels.
Thanks, gator!!
I sure enjoy these videos. Thanks for putting in the time and effort.
You're welcome!!
Thanks!
Thank you!
The Covington dairy sweet building is ABSOLUTELY CLUTCH
Thank you Joe (+Nic!) for your great work, 'subscribed you times ago ;-)) All my best wishes to you both, greetz from Cologne/Germany✌🤠
The Autobahn in Switzerland is not half as wide as the main street in Marshall ....
Love your channel, greetings from Switzerland!
It’s so sad when you go through these small towns and you find churches that have been abandoned. I believe it’s mostly because of the lack of people and the fact that we are moving away from God, when we should be drawing closer. ❤
Thanks, I so enjoy each and every one
AWESOME mural in Garber
how fun to travel such places , without any back thoughts that somebody is waiting for you or childrens are crying at home come back hurry up !
i wish i could live life like that .
❤
We miss the glamorous Nicole. We haven't seen her in a few videos now. Hope she is doing well. Thank you for another great video. I look forward to your future international travels.
Good video again. So interesting!!
Thanks for the video 😊🐨🦘
The dark dreary winter ambiance, only adds to the production.
Good bottle-digging weather!
In addition, a great place to photograph the stunning urban decay.,
I passed through that part of OK from Dodge, KS going down to OK City and end up visited the OK Bombed Buiding.. Yes, it s a vast plain of farmlands as far i can remember.
I'm envious, love a road trip, did three around the US in recent years.
Always surprises me that there are so many poor areas in such a wealthy country. Love your work 👌👌🇬🇧🇺🇸
Thanks, Tom!
Another great video showing the decline of rural America. No one can ever accuse you of not doing your homework, Thanks.
At 29:51 those cats and earlier in the vid and the chickens must have someone feeding the critters . The two big modern high schools shown must be consolidated schools having all 12 grades . Keep them coming and Happy trails .
I worked in the refinery in Ponca City some years ago. (16 years ago) I would go exploring on weekends. All through Ok,there are abandoned farms, with old abandoned homes,falling in. It’s really sad to see. I would stop at some of them, and wonder how many families have lived there over the years. How many newlyweds were proud to have a good home ,How many babies had been born there. Kids learning to ride bikes in the yard. How many first dates. How many young men left for war,never to be seen again by their parents. It sucks the air out of your lungs to think about it 😔 It’s heartbreaking.
Hey Ponca City! I had a relative who worked for Conoco in PC. I agree with your observations about the abandoned farms, etc.
Utterly depressing, but strangely interesting...
I do like seeing these videos but sometimes they are just sad ...most all these towns were killed by the Conservative Coolidge ...History wants to blame Hoover but he stepped in just in time to catch a load of bricks left by the Cons deregulation of the stock market. saw another utube video ranking depression in the states ...Ok is like 4th in the nation for depression at almost 25% ...and that is a conservative estimate and at least that many are not even diagnosed i expect ...they just pop anothertop. And if u were to take the top 3% of income off the list which is more accurate ...i expect all those median incomes would be cut in half
Thanks for your great video its sad what happen in Amercia 🤝🇵🇱
I wonder if these towns will ever be repopulated-as always, thanks for sharing your thoughts, research and travels. ❤️🇺🇸✌🏻
The murals in Garber are good. Garber itself seems good too.
Thank you 😊
A wonderful and relaxing video as always, fascinating old towns! An awesome cat sighting day!!! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic.😺❤
Thanks, CL!!!
Those trees and surroundings decay, reminds me the great movie from `99 "sleepy hollow", and such great tour. I so love to visit such places. Lucky you man, thanks
I'm in Tulsa. I was born and raised here. I don't think I'll ever move anywhere else. I'm in my mid 40's and although I think I've probably been to every small town in the state, it's always such a great feeling watching videos like this. It's always nostalgic for me. Great video!
Thank you for an excellent video. As always, sad that it’s over. Till next time. Safe travels to you!!!!
Thank you!
We wait for your videos to be posted. We enjoy your narration of the places you visit. Please keep them coming.
What a beautiful place. Thank You.
That beautiful old abandoned house in Marshall looked very Addam's family! I guess those two towns with the big schools, bus kids from other small towns, they look very hi spec. Another great video, and the cat sightings, wow, it would have been a cat-astrophe to not see any, sorry couldn't help it!
Such a sad sight. Dreams, hopes and profitability faded. Yet for me, there is such beauty in towns like these. It's the America I would love to sightsee around.
Joe, love the show! Loved tge Erie Canal towns when you were in New York, next time your in the area, check out Culvrrt Road in Medina NY. Culvert Road is the only road where you can drive under the Erie Canal!
Just want to say Thank You ! For all you two do. This TH-cam channel could easily be a year after year Discovery channel hit ! Always watching 🧐
Wow, thank you!
Can't wait to hear of the upcoming travels..👌🏾👍🏾
Cool!😎 That's Wild, Heavy, annd Far Away brother! Rock On!!!😎😹😸😼✌️
great video, its absolutely amazing to document this, thanks all the way from Scotland.
Videos keep getting better and more interesting. Thank you Joe.
Immer sehr gut ! I love it 🐰
Sad to see once bustling towns like this.
Great vid. Marshall, OK is exactly the kind of totally abandoned ghost business district I think your subscribers want to see, at least I do. This is a great ghost town. Stabilized a bit it would make a great movie set. I just can't see why anyone lives there anymore.
I agree!
Thanks Joe, I have to wonder with no real tax base, how were the 2nd and 3rd towns able to build such nice schools? It’s great to see the investment in the younger generations 👍
so glad you turned around and did a close up of the power wagon bumper pumper fire truck --thanks
Thank you from germany!!
My family emigrated from Aürich and Köln.
Just found this channel today, really interesting and informative. I definitely subscribed. 👍👍
Glad you're here, thanks for subscribing!
There’s a lot of junk on the web but you guys are always very entertaining.
Thank you!!!
When we lived in Tulsa I used to have a Rug Doctor route and we were always looking for new stores to set up in. Boy does this bring back memories.
From Garber here and have been subbed for awhile now. Glad you got to stop into our little town. Wish I would’ve been around to invite you guys over to the family’s house for dinner!