Cardin is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Ottawa County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States. The population was 150 at the 2000 census, but declined all the way to a population of 3 at the 2010 census in April 2010. By November of 2010, the population of the town was listed as zero. A former center of zinc and lead mining in northeastern Oklahoma, the town is located within the Tar Creek Superfund site designated in 1983 because of extensive environmental contamination. The vast majority of its residents accepted federal buyout offers of their properties, and the town's population officially had declined to zero in November 2010.Sheila Stogsdill
"Cardin population drops to 0 as buyout completed"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'', November 17, 2010.

History

Early history

When it was founded as a mining town in 1913, this was first known as Tar Creek, after a stream in the area. In 1918, William Oscar Cardin (

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

), and his wife, Isa (Wade) Cardin, had his 40-acre allotment platted and recorded with the county clerk. The town name was changed from Tar Creek to Cardin in 1920. There were 2,640 residents in 1920, many of them mineworkers.Herman McMullin, "Cardin," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed May 6, 2015. This was part of the

Tri-State district The Tri-State district was a historic lead-zinc mining district located in present-day southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma. The district produced lead and zinc for over 100 years. Production began in the 1850s and 1860s ...

of southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma, which produced more than 43% of the lead and zinc in the United States in the early 20th century.

Buyout and shutdown

The town, along with Picher, and Hockerville, Oklahoma, is located within the Tar Creek Superfund site. This was designated in 1983 under laws intended to allocate federal funding to clean up former mining sites of extensive pollution. These towns are part of a $60 million federal buyout because of lead pollution, as well as the risk of buildings caving in due to decades of underground mining. Cardin, Oklahoma, officially closed its last business, the post office, on February 28, 2009. In April 2009, federal officials stated that only seven residences were occupied in Cardin and that the town's water service would soon be shut off. Cardin was the first city within the Superfund area to be completely closed down. In November 2010, the last family in Cardin received its final buyout payment from the federally funded Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust. They departed, reducing the town's population to zero. Similarly, Picher was officially unincorporated in 2013, after reductions in population due to buyouts and to damage from the 2008 tornado. The state and EPA estimate that years more of investment and treatment will be required to reduce contamination to acceptable levels, and restore some of the habitat and landscape.

Geography

Cardin is located at (36.975692, -94.851612). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all of it land.

Demographics

At the 2000

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, there were 150 people, 58 households, and 44 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 66 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 83.33%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 6.00% Native American, and 10.67% from two or more races. There were 58 households, of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.00. 22.7% of the population was under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.3 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 96.6 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $24,000 and the median family income was $25,417. Males had a median income of $23,125 compared with $13,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $9,570. There were 22.0% of families and 31.0% of the population living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 57.1% of those under eighteen and none of those over 64.

Education

The local school district,

Picher-Cardin Public Schools Picher-Cardin Public Schools was a school district headquartered in Picher, Oklahoma. The district operated an elementary school, a junior high school, and a high school. In later periods it was organized only into an elementary school and a hig ...

, closed in 2009. The territory at that time became a part of Quapaw Public Schools.

Notable people

* Merlyn Mantle, wife of baseball player

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

, was a native of Cardin.

References

External links

Cardin, Picher Field, Tri-State District
at

Mindat Mindat may refer to: Places * Mindat District, a district in Chin State, Myanmar (Burma), consisting of two townships and many villages ** Mindat Township, Myanmar *** Mindat, Chin State, a town in Chin State, Myanmar, administrative seat of Mindat ...

''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Cardin

Ottawa County Map
{{Oklahoma Geography of Ottawa County, Oklahoma Ghost towns in Oklahoma Environmental disaster ghost towns 1913 establishments in Oklahoma 2009 disestablishments in Oklahoma Populated places disestablished in 2009 Lead and zinc mines in the United States Former municipalities in Oklahoma