OKLAHOMA: Once Booming Towns That Are Barely Surviving

All those houses in Burns Flat (spaceport) looked exactly like enlisted military housing.

Burns Flatt space port is the former Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base closed in 1969. The housing is enlisted housing from that era. It has excellemt hanger construction, and a 13,000 ft. runway.

I was born in Cordell in 1960, moved away at the age of 7, then returned to attend school at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. My grandparents owned and operated a dairy farm about 9 miles east of Cordell, just north of a tiny place called Cloud Chief. Their farm was actually bisected by the Washita river (which is pronounced WASH-i-tah, incidentally, not wash-EE-tuh). Thank you for the lovely trip down memory lane.

My Daddy was stationed at Clinton Sherman Air Force base in Burns Flat. Those duplexes are old military housing. You took me on a trip down memory lane. Thanks.

I lived and worked in Enid OK (1991-1992). I enjoyed my work and time then. Now I retired in Michigan. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

An armadillo counts for more than a cat. Well spotted. Another interesting video, as ever.

We live in Clinton and know all these places very well. You are probably the first travel vlogger who has ever called Clinton "lovely"... So thanks. Although we were sweating it when after downtown you immediately went to the worst parts of town and drove around. (Cotton Gin area and the area we call "The Flats). The numbers are wacky here because we have a lot of rich farmers as well as poor people who have very little.

I’m from Oklahoma and now live in Los Angeles. I found your videos of rural Oklahoma extremely interesting and enjoyable to watch. Really helps to remind us that the world does not revolve around us in big cities. There is a lot of life all over. Thanks for sharing these. It was a great excursion down memory lane.

Cordell is a nice well-maintained town.

Those duplexes reminded me of base housing for military families? Maybe that being a "space" town it was once set up as a military base. The town probably has an interesting history.

Your last city, Elk City is the birth place of Jim Webb. For those of us old enough to remember/enjoy these popular songs by Glen Campbell..."By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Galveston," "Wichita Lineman," 21 year old Webb wrote those songs. He also wrote "McArthur Park" a song about someone leaving their "cake out in the rain too long." Anyway, a shout out to Elk City, a town as tough as a $5 steak!😁

Thank you for showing us these parts of America

Love the videos. Regarding your comment about the housing styles in Burns Flat all being the same; Those were typical of Air Force enlisted housing of the era. If memory serves correctly I recall the base may have been called Clinton-Sherman AFB. This base was also designated as an alternate/emergency landing runway for the Space Shuttle program. I noticed in one of your other vids on rural Oklahoma that the peak population of many of the rural towns was around 1980. This coincides with the end of an oil boom (late 70's) in the state. The jobs went away, so did the younger people and anyone else not associated with a farm or agriculture. Only so many can inherit the farms, the rest must move to find work. Please keep the vids coming.

I lived in Cordell as a child in the mid fifties. It was cold in the winter with dust storms due to drought, which obliterated the sun. A pleasant place to live but I was happy when we moved to southeast Oklahoma. I remember the Mennonite farmers coming to town to shop. In those days they painted the chrome over on their vehicles.

For me as a European its both fascinating and a bit mysterious that literally nobody is roaming the streets. No elderly, no kids, not one. And where are all the „basketball baskets“? Where, do you think, should the next olympic gold medal come from?? ;) Btw, subscribed. Good luck for you and „the wife“ and please keep up the series for a good while still. One more year, from what I understood? Greetings from Germany and cheers, 🇩🇪🍻.

My mother comes from western Oklahoma. Harmon County. Born 1929 dust bowl years left 1939. To ARIZONA. My dad born Eufaula Oklahoma. Left 1937 to AZ. Thank you Joe for this video.

My mother grew up in Washita County; Cordell, Lake Valley, Burns Flat, Cloud Chief. She took us kids there a lot in the 60's. Your video brings back a lot of memories. Thank you for sharing.

The reason that property value in Canute is high is because of acreage. Homes in Canute average about 5 acres in land.

As a person that drives to different towns across the country, Oklahoma rural Side was fascinating

How delightful for the first thing you see in Cordell to be a possom-on-the-half-shell! They are such useful little things. They keep my yard cleared of grubs. Seeing the neighborhoods is always fun. From the stately to the dumps, it's always entertaining! I like Nicole's views of things too. I can hear me saying what she says! Your food looked delicious!