The great oil boom of Tulsa and it historical gifts

​       My hometown of Tulsa was known as the “Oil Capital of the World” when I was a youngster. It was a designation born from the discovery of oil in November 1905 on the Glenn family farm south of Tulsa, which became known as Glenn Pool. 
         According to American Oil & Gas, the oilfield discovery launched a drilling boom that greatly exceeded the first Oklahoma oil well of 1897 in Bartlesvillle.
           At one time, Bartlesville was home to Phillips 66 Oil Company.
     The discovery of oil made headlines worldwide, attracting established exploration companies, new ventures and a host of service companies.
       “Soon, hundreds of Indian Territory wells produced so much oil the entire region was called the giant Glenn Pool,” noted the AOG.
         Today, that area and town is known as Glenpool.
       The discovery of oil helped develop the careers of men like Harry Sinclair, J. Paul Getty and others.
       One of those oilmen was Robert M. McFarlin (July 27, 1866 – Aug. 11, 1942), an American oilman, cattle rancher, philanthropist and businessman who is best known for amassing a fortune by drilling for oil near Glenpool with his nephew and son-in-law, James A. Chapman, noted Wikipedia.
       McFarlin, who was born in Ovilla, Texas, attended the Waxahachie’s Marvin College for two years before becoming a farmer in Vernon, Texas in 1888.
      He married Ida Barnard two years earlier in 1886.
     The couple had two daughters and one son. Their son, Robert Boger, who was born in 1891, died of typhoid fever at the age one month and 19 days.
     The couple moved from Texas to Norman, Okla., then in Oklahoma Territory, in 1890, where they worked as cattle farmers and operated a feed store.
       Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907.
     They farmed near Norman until a severe drought forced them to move their cattle to a ranch in Hughes County and the city of Holdenville in Oklahoma in 1901. They lived there until 1915, when the couple came to Tulsa.
    McFarlin and Chapman first partnered in 1903 to create the Holdenville Oil and Gas Company, which owned 10 acres in the middle of the Glenn Pool oil field.
       In 1912, the two founded the McMan Oil Company after the discovery of oil in the Cushing Oil Field (about 50-miles west of Tulsa). They duo later sold the business to Magnolia Petroleum Company in 1916 for $39 million.
      In 1918, the St. Louis-based company of Barnett, Hayes & Barnett built a five-story office building for McFarlin at 11 E. 5th St. in downtown Tulsa. The building, which is still in use to this day, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Dec. 6, 1979.
      That same year, McFarlin and Chapman organized the McMan Oil and Gas Company, which engaged in the production of oil and gas and the manufacturing of casing-head gas products.
The company was sold in 1922 to the Dixie Oil Company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of Indiana, for $20 million.
      In 1910, McFarlin, Harry Sinclair and some others organized the Exchange National Bank of Tulsa, which later became the National Bank of Tulsa and is now the Bank of Oklahoma.
    Also in 1918, McFarlin built an 8,500 square foot home at 1610 Carson near downtown Tulsa and the Arkansas river.
     Today, that home is owned by Karen C. and her son, Nathan, and is used as an event center for weddings, corporate and business gatherings, family functions and more.
     The mother and son duo own and manage numerous rental properties throughout the Tulsa metroplex. 
      I attended elementary and junior high school with Karen and have kept in touch with her through the years. In fact, Karen was the realtor that sold my boyhood home in July 2010.
      Debbie and I were in Tulsa, June 5 – 9, for a cousin reunion on my mom’s side of the family and to visit with friends. Karen gave us a tour of the home and showed us the work she and Nathan have done on the mansion since purchasing it three years ago.
      The property features the main house and two carriage houses and a large swimming pool built some years later.
     Constructed in the Prairie Italian Renaissance style, the mansion was built of reinforced concrete column and beam construction with clay block interior walls.
      As we toured the mansion, Karen explained the restoration work that had been completed. It’s an amazing home with a beautiful spiral staircase.
   At one point, the home served as a photography studio with a prominent Tulsa photographer.
     The home is decorated with a mixture of period and modern furniture and artwork. The third floor of the home serves as a bridal suite.
     Among McFarlin’s many philanthropic gifts and charitable endeavors where $600,000 in 1924 for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Norman, $600,000 in 1925 for the McFarlin Auditorium at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, and $300,000 in 1929 to build the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa.
       McFarlin was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1935.
    There is so much history from my boyhood home and it was such a treat to tour the mansion of one of the founding oilmen in Tulsa.
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.
   Editor’s note: Much of the information for this article came from sources such as American Oil & Gas, Wikipedia, Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Historical Society, information on the McFarlin Mansion and other sources.