Today, each of the buildings in Red Oak II is privately owned. Of his re-created town, he said: “Red Oak II is a combination of a painting and a sculpture, and it is just made from things that someone else threw away.” Referred to as the “Norman Rockwell of Rural Art,” Davis has a love for the simpler times of the past that are reflected, not only in his “new” town but also in his paintings and sculptures. He began to buy homes and businesses from the original townsite and other rural ghost towns, painstakingly moving them to the new site and restoring them to their original “grandeur.”ġ920s Phillips 66 Station was originally located on Route 66 in Avilla, Missouri, by Kathy Alexander. His creative inspiration soon led him to turn his acreage into a tribute to his home town and before long Red Oak II was born. In 1987, Davis was living on a farm near Carthage that was little more than an empty cornfield. The original Red Oak, like many other rural agricultural towns across the country, started to fade sometime after World War II, when people began to move to the cities in earnest.Īfter Davis had left the area for a number of years, he returned in the 1970s to find his home town had become a ghost town. Red Oak II was actually the brainchild of artist Lowell Davis who grew up in the “real” Red Oak, Missouri, about 18 miles northwest of the “new” Red Oak II.

But, it has authentic old buildings, and an old cemetery, and it looks like a ghost town. Let’s keep the discussion going with 6 more towns that have seen better days.Town Hall in Red Oak, Missouri by Kathy Alexander.Ī couple of miles northeast of Carthage, Missouri and just off Route 66 is Red Oak II – a ghost town, but not really. Through them we can keep the history of our state alive so these towns and their rich histories don’t disappear forever. If you search the internet, there isn’t a lot of information about a lot of these towns, which makes these posts special.

In a previous post, we discussed the ghost towns of Arlington, Far West, Garber, Jollification, and Avilla. Some of these towns become residential only. Sometimes the term can refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods which are still populated, but that have lost significant population in years past. Floods, government policy repercussions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or pollution and nuclear disasters can all be to blame.

It can be caused by changes or failures in economic activity it once supported, or due to natural or human-caused disasters. Posted in Missouri Abandoned, Attractions, Creepy Januby Stephanie Butler Here Are 6 More Ghost Towns In Missouri That Are Nothing Like They Used To BeĪccording to Wikipedia, a ghost town is “an abandoned village, town, or city, usually one which contains substantial visible remains.” There are many reasons a town becomes a ghost town.

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