Drumright Chamber & Business Directory 2020 | Page 16

DRUMRIGHT HISTORY
T
he discovery of oil on the Wheeler Farm in
Creek County, Oklahoma, started the greatest
oilfield in the world at that time. Eighty thousand
people swarmed into the area erecting wood and
canvas shacks in the oil camps throughout the hills
over the great oil deposit that became the Drumright
Field. The towns of Drumright, Shamrock, and Oilton
materialized overnight.
By 1917, the Drumright Field produced more oil
than any other in the world. A colorful collection of
workers, producers, hustlers, and drifters rushed into
the field that included the world's first million barrel
well. Then came the builders with wives and children,
hell-fire preachers, merchants, and politicians.
Permanent homes were built and community life
began to displace the tumult in the boomtown. To
see how life was in the oilfields during the glorious oil
boom days, a visit to the Drumright Historical Society
Museum is a must.
Located a short distance west of Tulsa on Highway
33, the Drumright Historical Society Museum is
housed in a 1915 Santa Fe Depot, which is on
the National Register of Historic Places. In 1965,
educator, Emma E. Akin, renowned for her early
civil rights work, founded the Drumright Historical
Society Museum. The eight-foot murals in the central
room are eye-catching. They feature the arrival of
the Spanish and French, the trappers and traders, the
Trail of Tears, and the discovery of oil.
The oil room has a large collection of memorabilia
and tools used to drill in the vastly rich oilfield.
Outside on the grounds is a collection of large
equipment used in drilling and producing the oil
sands. The cannon on the front lawn was used to
shoot the bottoms out of burning oil tanks.
The town has changed and the oil boom is no
longer what it was, but the history remains. This
unique museum provides an intimate history of life in
Oklahoma oil boomtowns. Located in the center of
colorful Drumright, Oklahoma, one-half mile from the
discovery well, the museum continues to grow and
improve in fulfilling its mission to take its visitors into
an exciting time past.
5ISPV
UIF
QI
Photo Taken By Misty Crouse
16 | Drumright Area Chamber And Business Directory 2020