Talk:Park Hill, Oklahoma

Ghost town?
Park Hill is hardly a ghost town. It's a small town but very much alive. What rationale was used to determine this designation? -Uyvsdi (talk) 18:34, 28 March 2009 (UTC)Uyvsdi
 * Yeah, that's a bit silly, unless some reliable source calls it a ghost town. I removed it. Ntsimp (talk) 16:24, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Author John Morris classifies Park Hill as a ghost town in his book Ghost Towns of Oklahoma (pages 140-144). I believe the modern town may be located on a different site (not far from the original) but I am not certain.  If so it may warrant a different article specific to the historic site;  otherwise a writeup of the historic community may be able to be added to a "History" section.  I'll do some more research on it (eventually) and may re-add it as a ghost town if the evidence supports it.Narthring (talk  • contribs) 18:46, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
 * The modern town is exactly on the historical (1840s) site. The Murrell Home is still intact and the columns from the original Cherokee Female Seminary are still standing and are incorporated in the Cherokee Heritage Center. Remains of old churches are still standing. It's assuredly a living town, complete with post office and various community centers - I don't believe John Morris quite has the authority to redefine phrases of the English language. -Uyvsdi (talk) 21:41, 6 June 2009 (UTC)Uyvsdi
 * Actually the phrase "ghost town" has been established as describing communities with a sizable number of current residents, though these populations are much smaller than in previous times.


 * Morris, whose book cites Park Hill as a ghost town, describes three types or categories of ghost towns. One of the definitions he uses is a community where "the population has decreased at least 80 percent from maximum." (page 3)


 * As another reliable source Philip Varney in Southern California's Best Ghost Towns states that "A ghost town, to me, is any site that has had a markedly decreased population from its peak..." (page xiii) "...it can be a town with genuine signs of vitality." (page xiv)


 * Legends of America, a website with information on ghost towns, states "a ghost town is any historical town or site that leaves evidence of a town's previous glory" and includes towns with residents in their definition. Ghost Town Types and Code of Ethics


 * As for Park Hill, the sources indicate it was a very important center of the Cherokee Nation before the Civil War. After the war it declined drastically but had a short boom in 1902 when the Ozark and Cherokee Central Railroad came through, declining again after the railroad was abandoned in 1942.  There seems to be a lot of tourist activity related to the pre-Civil War era Park Hill and though the town has a sizable population it isn't nearly as important or large as it used to be.  It doesn't seem like Morris was off when he described Park Hill as a ghost town.Narthring (talk  • contribs) 23:06, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Did Park Hill really once have a population over 19,680? If that is the case, I'm impressed. -Uyvsdi (talk) 23:56, 6 June 2009 (UTC)Uyvsdi

Just because a town isn't as important as it used to be doesn't make it a ghost town. Its present population is greater than many other census-designated places. I will remove it from the list of Ghost towns in Oklahoma. Bruin2 (talk) 19:47, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Article classification
This article meets the criteria for Class C. Bruin2 (talk) 06:31, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

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