Vickers Petroleum
Optimism was high after discovery of oil near El Dorado in October 1915, which became the Mid-Continent oil field. Stapleton No. 1, the first well in the 34-square-mile oil field, produced 95 barrels a day from 600 feet before being deepened to 2,500, and production grew to 110 barrels a day. Soon wildcatters around the county were drilling in hopes of similar finds. John Aldwrid (Jack) Vickers, a Kansas City businessman, decided to join in the search.
Born in Lowell, in Cherokee County, Vickers grew up on a farm and ranch operation in Liberal. After graduating from the University of Kansas he worked in the grain commission industry in Kansas City, Missouri. He was among many men attracted to the promise of oil discovery near Potwin. At the age of 26 he joined Deering J. Marshall and Vanderburgh Lester drilling new wells near Potwin in August 1918. As the prospect of oil production became reality in Potwin the Missouri Pacific spur line provided a connection to the community. By the end of the year Vickers and Marshall’s had formed a refinery company in Potwin.
Vickers and Marshal began to purchase land in promising sections of the county. TVickers and his wife, Helen (Brown) Vickers, established their home in Wichita where they raised their family.
The Vickers-Marshall Oil and Refining Company initially operated with a crew of eight men as a skimming plant. Their three crude stills produced gasoline. The company established offices at the Palace Theatre Building in Wichita. Then in 1919, moved to a suite of offices at 500-506 Bitting building, on the north corner of Market and Douglas Streets in Wichita, in 1919. The Bitting Building, constructed in 1911 with four stories and remodeled with seven additional floors in 1919, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
By the following summer Vickers was one of the youngest and most successful oil operators in the area. El Dorado’s Walnut Valley Times said he had made a “handsome fortune and could quit right now and have plenty of money to live a life of luxury without turning a hand, if he so desired.” But Vickers enjoyed the excitement of the industry. Actively involved in the drilling, he also set up the company’s new lubricating compounding plant.
In 1934 the Vickers family built one of the largest and most modern suburban residences in the state. Named Vickridge, the $100,000 estate with 12 bedrooms and nine baths, was located at 6500 East Central in Wichita. Vickers served as president of the company until his death in 1940.
Jack A. Vickers, Jr., assumed control of Vickers Petroleum Company after his father’s death. By the 1950s Vickers had 300 employees and a chain of 300 service stations across the Midwest. Production reached 16,000 barrels a day. By 1964 economic conditions led to the closing of the oil processing facilities. The company also sponsored the Wichita Vickers, a National Industrial Basketball League team.
Vickers was sold to Swift and Company in 1969 and Vickers, Jr., was made a director. Swift formed a subholding company called Vickers Energy Corporation, which was sold in 1980.
Quick Facts
(1915-1964 c.)
Established:1918
Closed: 1964
Significance: Bickers was a young and successful oil operator and his company the Vickers Petroleum Company lasted from around 1918 to 1964.
Timeline
1915- Oil is discovered in El Dorado.
1918- Vickers-Marshall Oil and Refining Company is established in Potwin.
1919- The company moves to the Bitting Building in Wichita.
1940- John Aldwrid (Jack) Vickers dies, and Jack A. Vickers, Jr., dies takes control of the Vickers Petroleum Company.
1964- The Company closes oil processing facilities.
2012- The Bitting Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
-
Potwin, Kansas: The First 100 Years, 1985
“Another Wildcat North of Potwin,” Wichita Beacon, August 2, 1918
Advertisement, Wichita Beacon, September 28, 1918 - Wichita Daily Eagle, October 29, 1918
- “Buying Elbing Lease,” Wichita Beacon, November 13, 1918
- “Buys Elbing Acreage,” Wichita Daily Eagle, November 14, 1918
- Oil News, Walnut Valley Times, July 4, 1919
- “Kansas Oil Boom,” American Oil & Gas Historical Society, 2018.
