The story goes -- My entire family lives in California, everyone. Not a single one lives anywhere else, except me. I moved to Kansas about 20 years ago and decided this was where I wanted to settle down, raise my kiddos and spend the rest of my days. However, I miss my family terribly! I reminesce quite a bit, home sickness blues. I began parusing my geneological roots. Low and behold! - my grandfather was born in Oil Hill, Kansas!!! I must find this place!
I located it on the Google, packed the kiddos in the car and off we went in search of our roots! On the way, we stopped in at the lovely Oil Museum in El Dorado. They have a wonderful little archive that held all sorts of wonderful details about Oil Hill! The town was booming back in 1916! I was getting so excited. It had a swimming pool, post office and the Missouri Pacific Railroad ran through. It was once the site of the state district office and had its own fire department. It was even granted it's own phone exchange! In 1917, it produced 6.8% of the nations oil. In 1920 the town boasted 330 homes and a 9-hole golf course. The school on Empire Street taught 275 students and employed 11 teachers.
I couldn't wait to see what this place had become! Did I have more relatives here? Was I not the only one in Kansas?? The kind museum people pointed us in the direction of Stapleton #1 - a dedication to the first oil rig in the area.Off we go to discover! Followed the signs around this corner, around that corner, down the dirt road and there it is .....or was.
Nothing ... absolutely nothing...nada...zilch...zero. Not a road, not a track, not a pole or sign. In 1954 the houses had been removed by the oil companies that built them and the rest were torn down in 1958. In 1963, the phone company had only 3 listings available for the community. The only remnant of the town is the namesake street you must take to get remotely close to the pasture that once was home to the residents of this ghost town, Oil Hill Road. Oh no! Say it isn't so!!! I was devastated, absolutely nothing left of the once bustling little oil built town.
I hope that bringing you to this spot, you might take a moment and imagine that families began there lives in this very spot. They brought all their family's hopes and dreams to Kansas. They began lifetime memories for even those family members that return after all was said and done.
I brought BurlJ out to this place to show him that I may be a California girl (born and raised) but I am a Kansan at heart. It was nice to be able to share this little bit of family history with him with just a short trip from home. We brought a cammoed matchstick container and placed it between the historic Stapleton #1 and William Burt Bentley's birthplace - Oil Hill. I love you Grandpa!