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Healdton in Carter County, Oklahoma — The American South (West South Central)
 

Healdton:

Oklahoma's First State-regulated Oil Field

 
 
Healdton: Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Jason Armstrong, March 28, 2021
1. Healdton: Marker
Inscription.

Production of crude oil from the newly-discovered Healdton field surrounding this marker site flooded the marker with an oversupply of petroleum protesting that pipeline purchases were inadequate. Producers claimed they were being deprived of individual rights to produce and sell their share of the field's production.

In response, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in May, 1914, ordered the pipeline carrier to increase purchases of produced oil provide facilities for rail shipment and build field tankage. The pipeline was further ordered to purchase oil ratably and equitably from Healdton producers.

This order resulting in proration of oil purchasing nine months after the field's discovery in August 1913 made Healdton the first field in the state to be regulated by a State Commission. This early-day proration was a forerunner of petroleum conservation laws to prevent physical and economic waste of petroleum energy in most oil states.

By late 1915 prolific production at Healdton and other Oklahoma oil fields supplied energy for a burgeoning automotive age in the United States and the allied war machine of World
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War I.

As the Healdton field boomed, the influx of oil-men overtaxed the community facilities. Hastily built stores, rooming and boarding houses and entertainment places turned the community into a typical oil boom town. Principal boom town area was called Ragtown.
 
Erected 1974 by Oklahoma Historical Society with Oklahoma Petroleum Council.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & CommerceSettlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Oklahoma Historical Society series list. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1914.
 
Location. 34° 13.999′ N, 97° 28.805′ W. Marker is in Healdton, Oklahoma, in Carter County. It is on East Main Street west of SE 5th Street, on the right when traveling west. The marker is located on the grounds of the Healdton Oil Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10734 Oklahoma 76, Healdton OK 73438, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Oklahoma’s Chickasaw Nation. It is also in the American South, specifically on the prairies, and on the Southern Plains.
Healdton: Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Jason Armstrong, March 28, 2021
2. Healdton: Marker
Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 3 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Vincent A. Kimberlin (a few steps from this marker); Ringling 100th Anniversary Celebration (approx. 7½ miles away); Orr Community Veterans Memorial (approx. 13.6 miles away).
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on September 2, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 29, 2021, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. This page has been viewed 465 times since then and 53 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on August 29, 2021, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
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Aug. 9, 2026