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Cushing was located in the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation opened to homesteaders on September 21, 1891.
In the run of September 22, 1891, William R. Little located a homestead of 160 acres on the present site of Cushing.
The original townsite was situated on the north 80 acres of Mr. Little's homestead.
Little made the application under the provisions of the Act of May 2, 1890, by which Oklahoma Territory was established.
Accompanying Little's application was a statement which pointed out there was no town nearer than 14 miles and no large town nearer than 40 miles. He mentioned several business enterprises wanting to locate in the proposed town, including a Country Store, a Doctor with a Drug Store and a Blacksmith Shop.
Little described his homestead as rolling prairie. He said it was most valuable for agriculture purposes, excepting the 80 acres he desired for a town site. He said that to his knowledge there were on the homestead no indications of coal, salines, or other minerals.
Dennis T. Flynn, representative in Congress, had suggested the name of Cushing for the Post Office, for Marshall Cushing, a private secretary to John Wanamaker, Postmaster General in Harrison's Cabinet.
And that's why the name "Cushing" was chosen.
The main business thrust shifted from Main Street to Broadway in 1902 when some enterprising individuals stole the post office and moved it to the Broadway area. The Santa Fe railroad soon located in the vicinity and businesses soon began to open to accommodate the additional traffic the railroad provided. Included in the mix were hotels, lumber yards, attorneys, doctors, dry goods stores, etc.
OIL!
Such was the beginning of Cushing which by 1915 was nationally known for its oil field. That year the Cushing Fields produced more than 300,000 barrels per day amounting to 17% of total quantity of oil marketing in the U.S. or 30% of the output of high grade oil. Approximately 3,600 producing wells were drilled in field.
The activity was unbelievable. Thirty to forty brick buildings were under construction at one time in downtown Cushing. Special trains from Tulsa brought men and equipment to Cushing then were transported to the oilfield by means of wagons and teams. Men slept everywhere they could on floors of buildings, in the depots and in rented rooms throughout the town. Almost every home rented rooms or had sleeping quarters for the people. Tents were placed everywhere on every vacant lot in town to house men and equipment for horses and teams.
Cushing's boom was the talk of the country. The real impact of greatness of the oilfield was not felt perhaps until the end of 1915 when there were 710 wells producing 72,000,000 barrels of oil annually. This great oilfield was over a year old before the petroleum trade realized its potential.
During the period Cushing, Oklahoma was known in oil circles throughout the world. Peak production in 1915 was 49,080,000 barrels of oil.
Of course since that time oil has remained an integral part of Cushing's business community and maintains its identity as a major Pipelines Crossroad.
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