Abandoned communities in Oklahoma no longer have permanent residents. Often no physical trace of the community remains. Many of these communities played important roles in the history, settlement, and growth of the state. Platted town sites organized by railroads, speculators, or the government during the opening of Oklahoma, many times, failed to prosper after initial settlement. Other communities grew up around rural schools, post offices, or general stores, and faded away when the attracting facilities closed. Several important Indian settlements developed around frontier forts, trading posts, Indian agencies, or where natural resources attracted permanent dwellings and dissolved when the Indian lands were opened. Oil boom towns also sometimes attracted thousands of people but disappeared when the boom ended.
Abandoned communities differ from "ghost towns", which may or may not have citizens, buildings, or civil governments, depending on which and whose definition is used.
Abandoned sites in Oklahoma are almost always located on private, state, tribal, or federal land, and trespassing laws apply.
