The town of Phillips was partially destroyed in 1980 by an explosion at the local oil refinery and all residents were later evacuated. The town itself is now owned by the refinery so you can’t visit it. But it seems like the neighboring town’s (Borger) economy was also affected by Phillips closing down as the businesses on that side of town are shut down as well. There is a shopping plaza and several fast food restaurants along the road leading to Phillips that are boarded up and overgrown. I find things like that really interesting but I think most people would be disappointed by the trip. If you’re expecting to see a whole ghost town, this is not the one for you.
Worth stopping off to see but it doesn’t seem you can go inside and it’s really hard to find based on the address. I had to stop and ask a couple of locals or I never would’ve found it - after turning onto West Main St, go across the bridge and IMMEDIATELY turn left. At the bend in the road, take the driveway uphill to your left. I included a screenshot of the map to make it clearer.
Really cool to see but I wish it was kept in better condition. Someone lives behind it and uses the schoolhouse as a catch-all storage area which was disappointing and made it uncomfortable to get out and look at as it was unclear if I was trespassing.
The Heaviest Corner on Earth is a promotional name given to the corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, in the early 20th century. The name reflected the nearly simultaneous appearance of four of the tallest buildings in the South, the 10-story Woodward Building (1902), 16-story Brown Marx Building (1906), 16-story Empire Building (1909), and the 21-story American Trust and Savings Bank Building (1912).
I was a little disappointed because I was expecting to see the Rialto like in the main picture. That set is apparently in LA and this location is only where the campus scenes were shot. It’s a nice campus and worth a visit, just be aware that you will not see any other sites from the movie.