A little over a year after the initial oil discovery by Dr. Busey, the Oil
Operators Trust—Murphy #1, a wildcat well staked on a geologic feature
called the Norphlet dome, drilled into the gas-cap of what would become the
huge Smackover Oil Field. The well blew out and made a crater 500 feet
across and 150 deep, which swallowed up the rig, the derrick, and all of the
drilling equipment. The well caught fire and created a 300 foot high natural
gas flare, which made night seem like day in downtown El Dorado ten miles
away. This well would lead to the discovery of the giant Smackover Oil
Field, and later that summer the first oil well, the Reverend Charlie
Richardson #1 was completed. The oil boom accelerated with the discovery
of this huge oil field, and the populations of towns like Norphlet and
Smackover grew to over 10,000 in only a few weeks. Many of the Smackover
Field oil wells came in at over 50,000 barrels of oil a day, and one, the #1
Burton, gauged at 74,500 barrels a day. At the peak of the boom Arkansas
was one of the leading oil producing states in the nation. During the first
five years of the boom more money flowed into El Dorado than the total
appraised value of all the property in the state. This influx of wealth gave
El Dorado, in the 1920s, the distinction of having one of the largest
concentrations of millionaires in the country, and allowed the citizens of
El Dorado to construct the biggest and most elaborate county courthouse in
the state, three magnificent churches, and a downtown full of fine buildings,
including what was at that time one of the tallest buildings west of
Mississippi, the Lion Oil Building.
Comments 0 comments