Oil Boom

The oil boom started in autumn of 1937 when the Adams Oil and Gas Company completed Louis Schmidt #1 for an initial production of 156 barrels. By the end of April, 1938, there were 102 producing wells and 111 drilling operations. The field yielded 264,000 barrels of oil and had a daily production of 6,200 barrels on an average. The focus then changed on June 21, 1938, to the Ed Tate farm situated between Centralia and Salem. The Texas Oil company struck oil and life in this area would never be the same. In 1910, the Centralia city government purchased 437 acres in Raccoon township to be used as a water reservoir and called it Lake Centralia. The city received its share of income from 74 producing wells, from selling water to Texas Co. and renting sites for homes, trailers, and camps. The city of Centralia derived more than a million and half dollars in oil income making possible the new city hall and community center.