Cromwell

Seminole County · south of the intersection of Shawnee Avenue (OK-56) and Jenkins Street in Cromwell

The Cromwell oil field and town were named for Joe I. Cromwell of Muskogee, Oklahoma. A gas well, the #1 Jim Willis, was completed by the Cosden Oil Co. on November 11, 1922. However, it was not until the discovery of oil by the Cromwell Oil & Gas Company at the #1 Bruner on October 2, 1923, that the drilling boom started. A total of 393 wells produced oil in the field. The town of Cromwell and the surrounding oil field had a peak population of 10,000 during 1923 and 1924. Lawlessness became rampant and caused the town to be named “Cromwell the Wicked.” To help curb the lawlessness in the town, William (Bill) Tilghman, a pioneer law officer and one of the famous “Three Guardsmen” of Oklahoma was named chief of police in September 1924. On November 1, 1924, at the age of 70, Tilghman was slain at the entrance of Murphy’s dance hall, located where this marker stands.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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Marker data: Oklahoma Historical Society, Historical Marker Program. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's marker database, reproduced with the Society's written permission.
Sponsored by Cromwell Alumni Association and the Oklahoma Historical Society
This marker on the program's own site

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