Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The local catch is delicious fried as well.
Terry's of Charlevoix
Carlson’s Fishery is a Great Lakes institution.
Carlson’s Fishery
The Cathedral Café maintains the building’s original church exterior.
Cathedral Café
Exterior of the historic Dyffryn Arms pub.
Dyffryn Arms
Most of what’s on the menu here comes from Michigan.
The Glenwood
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Siegfried Tieber specializes in sleight-of-hand magic using small objects, as well as mentalism, which gives the illusion of reading minds.
Does a Magician Really Never Reveal Their Tricks? AO Wants to Know.
11 days ago
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
14 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
17 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
24 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Missouri Eureka Times Beach, Missouri

Times Beach, Missouri

This former small town was destroyed not by the motor oil it sprayed the ground with but by the toxic waste that was added.

Eureka, Missouri

Added By
Leslie McIntyre
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Times Beach, Missouri   nowiknow.com
Times Beach, Missouri   nowiknow.com
Looking eastbound on old RT.66 in What was Times Beach Missouri   catwoman54 / Atlas Obscura User
Vintage sign from Rt. 66 at visitors center   catwoman54 / Atlas Obscura User
Looking down at the Merrimac river through the old RT. 66 bridge   catwoman54 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The former town of Times Beach, Missouri, was a community located on the famous Route 66 that ended up being the site of one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history when, like something out of a superhero origin story, the motor oil used to control dust in the town was laced with toxic waste.

In the early 1970s, the city of Times Beach hired Russell Bliss to spray its 23 miles of unpaved streets with used motor oil to help control the town's rampant dust problem, a technique Bliss had previously used in horse stables, as well as on his own property. Unbeknownst to his civil employers, however, Bliss, a waste hauler by trade, had also been hired by a company called IPC to dispose of a toxic waste material known as dioxin, which is generated by the production of Agent Orange and hexachlorophene, a chemical once widely used in disinfectants. In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, Bliss combined the chemical waste with his motor oil and proceeded to spray the mixture at various sites around Missouri. This shady spraying continued for four years between 1972 and 1976.

In 1971 the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) responded to reports of widespread, unexplained deaths of horses, birds, and other small animals, as well as acute poisoning symptoms including headaches, nosebleeds, stomach pain, diarrhea, and skin rashes experienced by people living in and around the properties where Bliss had sprayed. Soil tests conducted by the CDC revealed high levels of dioxin at three locations throughout the Missouri town, but the extent of the contamination remained unclear. It wasn't until 1982 when Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents relating to the Missouri dioxin contamination cases were leaked that the residents of Times Beach learned of the connection between Bliss and the toxic chemical. By then over a decade had passed since Bliss had sprayed the town's roads.

In 1982, EPA soil tests revealed dioxin levels in Times Beach sediments to be well above what the agency considered safe. The day after the EPA completed its soil sampling, the nearby Meramec River overflowed its banks, resulting in the worst flood in the town's history. As the waters began to recede and citizens began looking toward rebuilding their devastated town, the results of the EPA tests were made public; those who had fled in advance of the flooding were advised not to return while those who had remained were told to leave and take nothing with them. The entire town of Times Beach was evacuated and declared a Superfund site in 1983, and the town was officially disincorporated in 1985.

Though dioxin was once believed to be among the world's most dangerous chemicals, today researchers remain divided on just how toxic dioxin really is, leading to speculation as to whether the town's evacuation was even necessary. Unlike the residents of the notorious Love Canal, Times Beach residents lived for years in their contaminated town without ever suspecting something was amiss. Even Russell Bliss, the man at the center of the crisis, appears to have suffered no ill-effects from his exposure to the substance. 

In 1999, following extensive cleanup efforts, the EPA declared Times Beach safe and the land was converted into Route 66 State Park. By 2001 the site had been removed from the Superfund list. 

Update: As the site has been declared safe, there are no longer any warnings or caution signs and is largely unremarkable.

Related Tags

Superfund Site Environmental Disasters Disaster Areas Ghost Towns

Know Before You Go

 

 

Community Contributors

Added By

Leslie McIntyre

Edited By

GraceBee2, Megan, neitherworld, EricGrundhauser...

  • GraceBee2
  • Megan
  • neitherworld
  • EricGrundhauser
  • catwoman54

Published

August 11, 2014

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.npr.org/2010/12/28/132368362/a-chemical-conundrum-how-dangerous-is-dioxin
  • http://www.stlmag.com/Remember-Times-Beach-The-Dioxin-Disaster-30-Years-Later/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Beach,_Missouri
  • http://nowiknow.com/paved-with-good-intentions/
Times Beach, Missouri
Route 66 State Park
97 N Outer Road East #1
Eureka, Missouri, 63025
United States
38.502875, -90.593482
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Black Madonna Shrine

Eureka, Missouri

miles away

The Awakening II

Chesterfield, Missouri

miles away

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Sappington, Missouri

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Eureka

Eureka

Missouri

Places 2
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Black Madonna Shrine

Eureka, Missouri

miles away

The Awakening II

Chesterfield, Missouri

miles away

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Sappington, Missouri

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Eureka

Eureka

Missouri

Places 2
Stories 1

Related Places

  • Vacant houses & street in Love Canal

    Niagara Falls, New York

    Love Canal Containment Zone

    Toxic waste disaster that founded the Superfund program.

  • Picher, Oklahoma

    Picher

    This former mining town was named the most toxic town in America.

  • Ashland, Pennsylvania

    Byrnesville

    An underground blaze turned this village into a ghost town.

  • New Idria

    Paicines, California

    New Idria Ghost Town

    After the nearby mercury mine shut down, this town was abandoned and declared a Superfund site.

  • The angel backdropped by a sea of stars.

    Chornobyl, Ukraine

    'Monument of the Third Angel'

    The biblical sculpture honors those who lost their lives, homes and communities to the Chernobyl disaster.

  • View from the hilltop.

    Brooks, Kentucky

    Valley of the Drums

    This calm grassy field was once a Superfund site full of thousands of nasty chemicals.

  • Sign at Fort Douaumont reads: Danger, Access Forbidden.

    Fleury-devant-Douaumont, France

    Zone Rouge

    A swath of France so devastated by war it is still forbidden to go there.

  • The center square of Pripyat, once home for 50,000 people. After 22 years of neglect, nature has started to seep through the concrete

    Prypiat, Ukraine

    Abandoned City of Prypiat

    The ghost town left by the worst nuclear disaster of all time is being taken over by nature and urban explorers.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.