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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for Oklahoma





Welcome to Picher ...

So far, we found very little information about Picher. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Picher to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Picher, please Contact Us.

The city of Picher would have been located within present day Ottawa County<2>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Picher, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1916.

From the 2010 Census (the most recent Census number we have), Picher had a population of 20 people.<3> (see below for details).

While the community is gone, the present day location for Picher is 820 feet [250 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: The area where Picher was located is in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The Area Codes where Picher was located: 918 & 539<5>

Communities near Picher ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Picher.

  • Joplin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Miami
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Carl Junction
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carl Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl Junction
    • Carl Junction is located in Jasper County (MO)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,430 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carl Junction <6>
  • Baxter Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Columbus
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Galena
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Commerce
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Commerce have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commerce
    • Commerce is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,491 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Commerce <6>
  • Seneca
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seneca have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
    • Seneca is located in Newton County (MO)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,394 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seneca <6>
  • Oswego
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Fairland
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairland have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairland
    • Fairland is located in Ottawa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,024 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairland <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Picher. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Picher.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Picher. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Picher.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Picher. See our Newspapers Page for Picher.

Adding Picher to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Picher in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Picher was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Picher post office opened in 1916.

We also found Picher on a map titled George#&160;F. Cram Map (1922).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Picher.

The official website for State of Oklahoma: https://www.ok.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Picher, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If you're interested in how the shape of Oklahoma's counties, including Ottawa, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Picher.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Picher - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 918 code has been Overlayed with the 539 area code. New phone numbers in the Picher area will be assigned with one of these codes: 918 or 539. As a result, placing a call in the Picher area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025