Thank you for the video.I have family in Vici One bank, one gas station, one police car, one “little grocery store. No doctor of any kind in Vici,Shattuck, or Sharon . You have to go to Woodward. Honestly the best thing in all those towns are the people. They will literally give you the shirt off their back if you have a need. They are by all accounts poor in many things however they are very kind and generous with what they have. They have manners. Please, thank you, have a nice day, even a good morning . My mother died last year in Vici. Her friends from church opened up their home to her for hospice care, she passed the day after I arrived from California. The hospice nurse had a 45 minute drive one way. So you see they have what so many people lack today. They care❤
You don't know what you are talking about. Maybe you shouldn't speak on things that you are ignorant about. There is a hospital in Shattuck. There is actually 2 banks in Vici. You also forgot about the Cafe in Vici. Seems like you got pretty close with the rest of what you said.
Vici is pronounced with long I’s Vīcī. C is like s . My mom grew up there. At 22:19 you was looking at the two story house she was raised in. The house at one time was a school house. The blackboard is still on back wall. It’s been wallpapered and painted over. But its still there. Counting my mom there was 8 kids in that house. It thrilled me and made me sad to see you stop in front of that house. My grandma lived there until 2002.
My mother was born and grew up in southwestern OK having survived the dust bowl years during the Great Depression. It is likely many of these small towns never recovered from its devastation. Add to this the fact that many small rural towns have gone the same way as these which you show because of the takeover of agriculture by large conglomerates and the eradication of family farms.
13:23 have a farm 5.5 miles SW of Shattuck. 4th generation. My great grandfather migrated in the early 1900’s from the Volga in Russia to Shattuck. I have the original 160 acres deeded to my grandfather signed by then President Theodore Roosevelt. My parents grew up on the farm living and surviving the Great Depression. Thankful we still have the farm. They worked hard in this part of the country. The crime rate is low due to folks who were raised to respect your neighbors. The mentality to this day is anyone who creates problems don’t stay long in this area. Some very strong farmers around Shattuck continue to thrive. Most in 60’s and above or their children are taking over. People very involved in school sports and the young people are hardworking and respectful of their elders. It’s one of the few places I know in America where people take care of one another. Thanks for the great video! You described Shattuck perfectly!
I did 2 years of Dollar General delivery and delivered to all them small towns. Texas,Oklahoma,NM,AZ. I even did the Ardmore to Yuma run a few times. Watching these videos brings back some weird times for me. Nice!
I am glued to your videos! Thank you. The one thing I must say is that you classify many homes as “abandoned “ but really they just are not home at the moment. As a home health nurse I can assure you that those homes are definitely occupied. You would be amazed of the conditions humans are willing to live in.
Also, here in NE Oklahoma, at the Southern end of the Great Tallgrass Prairie, are families, like the Phillips, the Drummond's, the Barbees, the Perriers and individuals like John Israel... the most famous spur maker and the Bighearts, the Perrigo's, and the Whitehorn families. My friend F. Bigheart, is 82 years old and sleeps in the bed she was born in - a Chippendale, ball-&-claw solid Mahogany , absolute massive piece of furniture. In the small reservation apartment she occupies, are hundreds of very significant artifacts, and the EXACT same Chippendale bed, in the smaller bedroom, that her sister was born in. She is a national, and regional treasure ! She will be honored in France next month, at the screening of the movie, "Killers of the Flower Moon", in the Osage, sister city.
I really enjoy watching your videos. Strolling virtually in peaceful states. No crowds. Less people. Away from the noisy urban life. But beautiful views. So relaxing. 💖from🇵🇭
It is times like this when I see people living with bad roofs and dilapidated homes, that I wish I was as rich as Elon. I would travel around with a full time construction crews and fix roofs etc. for all these poor people. There are poor people in my Florida county that live in homes like that with tarps still over their homes from 5 yrs ago due to storm damage. It makes me sad to see it.
I know the feeling. I wish I could help more people too. I guess helping within your budget is the best I can do, so at least someone gets helped. I've been helped in the past, so I do my best.
People in the USVI still have tarps on their roofs from 6 years ago during hurricanes Irma and Maria. They had insurance but somehow they didn't get the money to fix their homes.
I think that rural Oklahoma looks so much prettier than much of the USa becuase there are so many hedges, reminiscent of rural France or EnglandThis looks beautiful and you know what? the first time in my old age I feel the urge to travel again and see this palce. First time anywhere in the US has attracted me-nature galore and few people what paradise!
Being an Okie I enjoyed your video. Even when a body lives their entire life in the same state, you don’t make it to every small town. Thanks for the drive👏🏻👏🏻
It looks like the city of gauge Oklahoma is 0% white 0%, Hispanic and 0% Native American There is one guy there, and only reason he’s there is because he got lost,, What a good factor is, I noticed there’s no rush hour traffic,,,
@@jdavis1770you're right. The lost guy is a long-bearded old man called Billy Bob and he drives a 1994 Dodge Ram truck and I just noticed the windshield is cracked, the hood is fastened with a clothes hanger, and the inside looks like a hoarder's home.
Such an interesting video, as always. The windmill museum was fascinating. When I was a child on long car trips, we used to count windmills as we went through the rural areas, just for fun. Sadly, you don't see them very often now. Thanks so much for another enjoyable video.😊
You are amazing...as a Non-American this is so awesome to me 😅... The way you choose towns its Unique...I like how you give all information about each town... It's like a Peaceful Movie with all enjoyment 👌🏻🙂 Keep it up.... and keep asking us as if we can answer 😅😂... GREETINGS FROM KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA 🇸🇦 🌴💐
Great video as usual. Around where I grew up, a declining oil boom area in Oklahoma, there are houses like seen in Gage. Some go away each year. One of the towns near where I grew up had its own full service grocery store. It was in downtown at one point, but the building it was in fell apart, so it moved to a metal building. It was in this building for decades. Then it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. As Dollar General had moved in, they owners did not re-build. A pretty bad loss for the town. This same town has a Sonic as its only place to eat out.
This is so surreal! I grew up in Arnett, though I don't live there anymore. It's a very nice, quiet, little town. 15:36 Yep! It was a theater at one point! 16:29 When the town was voting whether to build the new jail, there was talk that this small cabin would be torn down (because this cabin used to be near the courthouse). It was relocated to Addington park a few years ago to preserve it, and you can actually walk inside! 17:28 I'm fairly certain the liquor store is closed 😢 but R&R is a nice place. Has the neccessities!
Great video as always! But what gets me is how the grass is always neat to a certain point. Like they still have pride even if it rundown or vacant! Thank you 👑 can't wait until next video!
I noticed that too but I also got the impression that the "gardens" around the houses were incredibly boring with few shrubs, flower borders or veg beds.
Yeah sadly due to a variety of reasons (hyper car-dependency, restrictive single-family-home-only zoning and tax-averse population among many other things) we rarely fund things that would be considered "normal" in the rest of the world: Walkable streets with sidewalks and useable public transit. But in many metro areas of the USA this is changing for the better. 😊 My city in Tennessee recently made its downtown square car-free and its quite lovely! So much better for families and local markets and festivals etc and helping foster a sense of community! :) I hope to visit Scotland one day. I hear Edinburgh is amazing! 😊
There's a stigma in northwest Oklahoma. They hate anything that resembles hippies, like walking or biking. Had a beer bottle thrown at me once while walking. They yelled to "get a job" as they passed.
@@driftingover Dang thats so sad. The hatred for people on bikes is insane. So many people are so obsessed with going as fast as possible in their cars and if anyone gets in the way of that... well it could get ugly
@@concernedcitizen6572 Scotland is a lovely country,I’m from Glasgow and we do have our fair share of drug addicts,in fact we have the worst drug deaths in Europe.The city centre has a lot of closed shops but people with cars drive out to shopping centres and retail parks.There is also a cost of living crisis here with food prices sky rocketing .🏴🏴🏴🏴
I just found this channel the other day and I know why I love it. I travel a shit ton to a lot of places within and outside the U.S. And I always want to stop at these down and out abandoned towns but usually don't unless I'm alone and don't have the kids in the car. However, now that they're older, I think they'd really enjoy something like this as it also gives them a perspective on how lucky they are (but maybe some people don't mind living like that 🤷🏽). I also really enjoy the census facts you drop as well. I really hope that the people who want and need the help in these towns are getting it. 😢 Great channel!
I live in Rhode Island, but just received a rescue puppy who came all across the country in a van from Ringling OK. I never thought I'd actually see this state, but love seeing it through your travels.
Hi Joe, Thank you for all your videos.. we do enjoy when you ask us what we think bc it makes us believe you want to know what we think.. it brings us into your experience.. makes us feel as if we were sitting next to you on this fun road trip..so yeah I appreciate your various questions.. also I want to thank you for showing the post offices in each town you all travel to..post offices are always the beginning buildings for any new city along with the city halls and whatnot.. you guys are great and I can't wait for your next posting! Please keep up the great work and thank you God bless you through all your travels!
Beautiful Joe..love those "W I D E open Blue skies...much less stress in those little town, the log cabin an liquor store,. would be interesting to visit...all good sights and relaxing, you've got the touch! Good Sir..please stay safe in your travels, looking forward to the Kansas sights, thankyou.🌼
Hey Joe, Just finished the Okla video of which I often watch. Being an ex Okie as you are, I find this stuff very interesting. Since you are heading to Kansas, thought I might suggest a very unique town with an unbelievable history. The town is Nicodemus. A little off the beaten path but you can probably find enough info to gain some interest. HAPPY TRAILS Ron.....
Hello Joe. Just discovered your channel. Very interesting places you had visited. Thank you for taking us to places where we probably wouldn’t visit. Keep up your great work and safe journey. !
There used to be more tracks, a yard there. But still looks active in Gage. It is amazing to see how quiet it is. I wish I could have visited these towns. I would love to see quiet places like this and talk to the people. I would have loved to stop for lunch and dinner in the local diner or restaurant and talk to the people. In the area north of Binghamton NY it is rural area and driving up through Marathon and I stayed at the 3 bear inn and they had a bar and restaurant. Very nice to have dinner there and hang out and talk to people.
More interesting insights in to the towns, cities and metropolises of the US. Rural USA does seem to be in fast paced decline. As ever, highly interesting and informative.
Yeah the decline of rural America has been well documented for years now. Work from home due to COVID helped small towns a bit but I think its only a temporary blip. As work from home policies end many workers will have to either stomach ungodly commutes or sell their home for a massive loss. Either way no more LARPing as Little House on the Prairie for many.
As a kid growing up in Guymon Okla ,we would go fishing at the lakes and ponds around Shattuck. I broke an ankle and I remember Doctor BURGTORF in Shattuck set my ankle and put it in a cast . A lot of people would go there to have work done by him in the 70s .
Glad I got the cat sighting. Thanks. What is concerning to me is I never see a medical center or doctor/dentist. What do these people do? As an old, retired guy, these things would be important to me. I am so glad you actually make these town tours worth seeing. The stats you give are SUPER!
They simply drive to the nearest town with doctors and a hospital. It could be Woodward. Some of the biggest towns in northwest and western Oklahoma, such as Woodward, are not declining and successfully struggling to hold their own. Enid is the biggest town in northwest Oklahoma, which has been holding its own. Did you see his interesting video on Enid? If not, it's worth a look.
Varmod you just hit on one of the dirty secrets about rural living. Rural people are often subsidized by suburban and urban folks when it comes to medical care. It only makes sense right? It is very costly to get medications and medical care out to these hard to reach places. Certainly harder then folks who live in areas that are more well-connected to transportation networks. Also think about emergency situations. In an emergency situtation oftentimes an ambulance is not enough. Therefore they often have to be flown to hospital by HELICOPTER since they live so far from hospitals. Where I am from in Georgia this is a major problem and it is not even as rural as the places in this video. If folks who want to live in the super rural towns thats fine but then they get mad when their private helicopter ride to the hospital is so expensive! The bottom line is that these folks will still get their medical care. It will just be more expensive per capita than the rest of the country and whether you have a private insurance system or a public healthcare system it doesnt matter costs will go up for everyone else as a result. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate too so the problem will likely get even worse. This is all easily verifiable information via a simple google search.
@@concernedcitizen6572 Where do you think your food comes from, Einstein? Where do you think most of the energy and natural resources come from that powers your urban/suburban lifestyle? Rural areas, that's where. This is all easily verifiable information via a simple google search. 🤦♂
Could you talk to a few locals on your trips. I think that would be awesome to get some history from some older locals 👍 I love the concept, we stayed in the same hotel as you in Biloxi 👍 .
I drove across Oklahoma back in 2019. I traveled to Oklahoma mainly to see the Wichita mountains wildlife refuge. It is something to see. Then I drove as much of the remains of Route 66 as I could. Oklahoma has the most drivable portions of Route 66 of any Route 66 state. Not necessarily the most surviving icons, but the most drivable portions of road. I drove through some of these towns in your video.
Arizona has some neat murals along route 66, especially in Flagstaff depicting the people of the Depression era travelling along Route 66. I admired them every morning when my walk took me along 66.
I loved your last comment in Vici about taking care of a downtown by putting all the businesses in the downtown. That's what's killing my own town: the businesses are moving out of downtown and then killing the town as a whole.
Great video Joe. It's sad to see the old abandoned homes and think that once there were families living in them eating, drinking and having fun. I wonder where they all went to. Keep up the good work mate. Brynn --- Stafford --- UK.
I'm not from the US, i don't know if it's normal overthere but i've never seen a single soul walking around in these videos. We have rural areas here as well, but you generally see people going for a walk especially on saturday or sunday morning.
Yeah, I'm from Brazil and i find this really weird by watching this channel videos. Here in Brazil, even in the small poor and rural towns, we will always see people walking around the downtown or in the front of their houses chatting with the neighbours....
It's true that the places seem desolate of people. Ironically, there were pedestrians in this video but not many. More often than not, residences are not within the commercial centers and these centers now often have empty buildings; so are not magnets or destinations for walkers. People who do go to the remaining businesses in these centers take vehicles because it's for business not pleasure or leisure and that business trip may require returning with something too heavy to carry. Also, prohibitive distances for walking.
I moved to an undesirable area of Oklahoma 3 yrs ago, Muskogee Ok from Santa Rosa Ca. Can’t really afford to go back but I still think about doing it anyways lol
Hi Joe. Love your videos. No need to worry about asking us “…what do you think…”. I frequently find myself answering out loud to your questions. So if you think you hear someone talking to you when no one is around it’s probably just me, lol…really enjoy your dialogue and commentary anyway, keep up the great work and looking forward to your next production.
It would be nice to see some of the interiors of the grocery stores and other stores. I always wonder what these small local stores look like inside. Nice video and information. These small towns seems so peaceful.
They are anything but. The drama and math use here are rampant. The Christians are as hateful as they come. Not all of course, but a good amount. Lots of deadbeat dads that would rather sit on their ass and drink or do drugs. LOTS of domestic abuse. I can't wait to get out of here, but coming from poverty in an impoverished place with no opportunities takes some time.
At 6:08 -- except for the iffy road condition, I love driving stretches of road like that, with green fields on either side and blue skies with puffy white clouds as far as you can see. I could spend some quality street photography time in Shattuck, with the old garage and the giant funeral home storefront. And the windmill park--how cool is that? Reminds me of the windmill "museum" in Pie Town NM.
Really enjoy your videos. I'm from Michigan so getting to see these towns that most likely, I will not ever see is pretty cool. Relaxing also. Thank you! My only tip, if you can, would be to upgrade to 1440p or even 4k quality. The videos look SO much better then 1080p. Just a note.
Went to college at Oklahoma State. I remember driving up from Texas going the back way up state hwy 51, there were plenty of rundown towns out there. This video really reminds me of those drives up through the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, there’s really nowhere like it.
I wonder if the 65 and older crowd having 0 poverty is because they bought their homes back when they were cheap and have been paid off for sometime now?
I'd be willing to bet that, unlike in more economically 'well-off areas where people move around a lot, almost all homeowners in these towns/villages do not have mortgages because the homes were bought long ago. That's partly why statistically poor people can still live there.
The poverty rate is figured on household income and household size. If you’re an elderly widow living alone and you make more then $12,750 (2021 poverty line) you’re over the poverty line. But obviously that’s still not much money.
I’ve never seen a video where you have gone to a Native reserve or even passed one. This may be more common in Canada but I can’t believe there wouldn’t be any in some of the areas you go through like Oklahoma.
I noticed that NONE of the houses in these small towns have anything close to a maintained garden and very few have fences. From an Australian perspective it looks odd as gardens are the normal thing here.
Joe, you and Nicole should come to Osage County, the Great Osage Nation Reservation. Pawhuska, the County seat, is booming with business and tourism ! They filmed the movie, soon to be released, "Killers of the Flower Moon", here and it is the exact place where Indian princesses and heirs to Osage oil, and mineral rights...were taken advantage of, and some killed. There's Frank Phillips home, museum, and wildlife ranch, the Great Heritage Trails, the Drummond's vast wild horse ranges, Mounds... built centuries ago, by the mound builders.... likely gravesites. Actual graveyards, in the wilderness, round houses, where Indian rituals were held - it's all here.
After what's gone on in the world the last 10 yrs, I'm thinking of doing my part to reignite rural small town living. Looking peaceful and quiet. Big cities are truly overrated.
21:55. That's a really beautiful structure! I believe it is reminiscent of Early Mid-Century Ajerbaijanian Tudor Architecture, but I could be mistaken.
Howdy from oklahoma! You should absolutely check out quartz mountain state park and lake altus if you get the chance. Its not a big tourist destination even for people in the state and deserves more love
Great little towns. I enjoyed the windmill museum & noticed just one was actually spinning-the wind was choosy?lol. Do you notice alot of small towns have structures that have large tracker trailer doors on the buildings. Wonder if many of the population are truckers &/or service business for trailers. Much respect for truckers. Love the carving of Jesus, the tiny log cabin from the 1800's & as always the court houses that stand so majestically no matter what town. Awesome Joe. Missing Nic-sending luv.
I lived in Hollis, OK in Harmon county. A lot of closed down buildings, an and a few that have started collapsing. Apparently some years back the assistant chief of police was having relations with a female inmate at the jail. She sued the county, who was insured for a million dollars, but she won 12 or 15 million. So it is one of the poorest places in the state.
Gage actually looks like a half-decent town. It looks like more of a fun town than my tiny rural SE OK town. Plenty of space to ride bikes and go-karts, play with your friends in the fields and vacant roads. You want a town that's empty enough to do whatever in, but not so empty that you have to travel to do or buy anything. I don't like being around people, as you can probably tell, and I could have some fun with friends pretty easily here if I grew up here. My little town is almost always bustling, and it has a recent population of 290. Sure, it gets a lot of it's business from out of towners, like people from neighboring communities and passers-by from TX, AR, and north of town, but esepcially during the school year, we can have around 1,000 total people in town during school hours, and it's legitimately busy before and after school. Even on Sundays, it's busy in the mornings and after church. We have 3 churches including a big Assembly of God church that has ~300 in the congregation. It's weird how when you showcase these towns, they look legitimately empty and ghost-towny. My little town also has a ton of highway traffic from semi's and out-of-towners. Only truly quiet hours are between 2-4 AM. Too late for crackheads, and too early for truckers and travelers.
In North Western Oklahoma they pronounce "Vici" as (Vye'Sigh) there is a neat little historical marker about 2&1/2 miles west of town on hwy 51 where the old Chisholm cattle trail is bisected by the road. You can actually stand on the shoulder of the hwy and look both north and south and see the rut (depression) in the natural lay of the land created by the millions of head of cattle that were herded through there on their way to the Kansas rail yards. In the mid 90's I was the field service supervisor for DirecTV for the area you cover in this video. You would be hard pressed to find nicer, kinder, and more pleasant folks than country Okies; that being said, those out in the Northwest part of our state are the most kindhearted salt of the earth folks I've ever had the pleasure to work with.
