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Retrop, Oklahoma sits just
east of the Great Western
Trail. However, Retrop is not a
trail town - it began with the
farm and ended with the farm,
going ghostly in the 1940s.
However, not all is lost in
Retrop. There's Retrop - a
one-stop-sign town where OK
6 meets OK 55 - and then Old
Retrop. The cemetery is
located in Old Retrop across
from the abandoned store.
dirt roads on level plains. Even in its heyday Retrop wasn't much of
a town. But if you like ghost towns, this forgotten little hamlet may
be right up your alley.
Located 130 miles southwest of Oklahoma City and about 25 miles
south of Elk City at the border of Beckaham and Washita counties,
Retrop began its relatively short life as a small land rush farming
community. Originally, the town had wanted to be named Porter
after the first Anglo family to settle in town, but Indian Territory
already had a community by that name. Undeterred, the post master
just reversed the spelling, and Retrop was born.
Prior to its existence, the town site sat along the Great Western
Trail, a cattle road forged by John Lytle after farmers and ranchers
had fenced off the Chisholm Trail. Also known as the Dodge City
Trail and reaching all the way to the Dakotas, it ran just to the east of
the original town.
Though the post office had been abandoned by 1905, Retrop still
maintained a general store, school, and several residences. Like
many other Oklahoma towns, Retrop lived through hard times during
the Dust Bowl years. By the mid 1940s, the town's store had closed.
Today, two locations mark the location of Retrop. The newer
community lies at the junction of Oklahoma highways 6 and 55. Old
Retrop sits a mile off of the highways, its abandoned houses
standing in silent testimony of the little town it once was.
