| By 1913, the town
supported two general stores, a restaurant and a population of 35
people. However, this all changed
when the Cushing Oil Field began to develop two years later. The
town site soon shifted to the southern edge of the oil field and
became a boomtown almost overnight. Nearby, oil-field camps
called Dropright, Gasright, Alright, Downright, Damright and Justright
sprung up in the vicinity.
When the new location for the town was
surveyed and platted,
Shamrock
took on an Irish character with its Main street named Tipperary Road
and other streets taking on monikers such as Cork, Dublin, Ireland,
St. Patrick, and Killarney. Buildings were painted green and the
town acquired a Blarney stone. Its first newspaper was called
the Shamrock Brogue.
Cushing some 15 miles to the northwest
of Shamrock
really boomed as it soon supported 23 refineries and before long the
town of Drumright was formed just six miles north of
Shamrock.
The Cushing field became one of the
greatest oil discoveries of the early 1900’s, producing 300,000
barrels a day by 1915. By 1919, the Cushing-Drumright area
accounted for 17 percent of U. S. and 3 percent of world production of
oil, becoming known as the "pipeline crossroads of the world."
During
Shamrock’s
oil boom days, the town was a rowdy one with a number of gambling
halls, saloons, brothels and tough individuals. At one time,
noted oil-field entertainer, Ruby Darby, performed in a
Shamrock
pool hall, entertaining her guests by dancing on top of a pool table.
Shamrock began declining in
the mid-1920s as oil-field workers began to move on to new boomtowns.
Before long, stores, pool halls, hotels, and other businesses began to
close as the nearby oil-field camps were left deserted. Houses
were moved to new locations and business buildings stood closed up.
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66 Dining & Lodging Guide - 10th Edition