Stapleton No. 1

The discovery of oil at the Stapleton No. 1 oil well on October 6, 1915 brought big changes to El Dorado and changed its history forever. El Dorado grew from 3,000 to over 10,000 within three years after the Stapleton discovery. As oil was discovered in Butler County, the U.S. entered WWI in 1917. WWI accelerated the process of oil production. The El Dorado oilfield produced 29-36 million barrels a day, equating to 64% of Kansas output and up to 9% of the national output. The Stapleton No. 1 well produced 95 barrels a day from 600 feet before being deepened to 2,500 feet to produce 110 barrels of oil a day from the Wilcox sands. To house its workers, Empire Gas & Fuel Company built Oil Hill northwest of El Dorado, housing 8,000 residents. It was called the largest “company town” in the world.