Oil Field Lease House

Oil Field Lease House. . , Once the oil boom began in 1915, men and their families flooded the El Dorado area to find work in the oil fields. Small 2 to 5 room houses were built by the oil companies on land that was leased - thus the lease house or company house. By living on the job site workers could keep wells running full time. Some Butler County leases included the Wilson, Shumway, Paulson, Enyart, Fox-Bush and Koogler. These were not classified as towns, only a group of houses and maybe a store and post office., You were required to work for the oil company in order to rent a house. Rent averaged $7.00 per month. The houses were all painted the same company color or combination of colors which represented his employer. The walls were mostly made of beaver board (an early pressed board) with three inch strips covering the seams. They had a front porch, sometimes a back porch, a path to the outhouse (there was no water or sewer system on a lease) and a water pump., These houses were often right next to rigs and pumps. Children were warned not to go near the oil field equipment, but riding the rod lines that came out of the central power units became a favorite past time for some.