A tall wooden oil derrick throws a black plume of oil into the sky, with a storage tank and piping at the left and a sunset behind the well. The scene is identified as the shooting of the discovery well and Oklahoma City's first gusher. The Oklahoma City oil field opened in 1928 and became one of the state's major petroleum fields. Shooting a well meant detonating nitroglycerin underground to open the oil-bearing rock, a practice that could produce a spectacular flow like the one shown.
White border; visible linen texture; the printed caption ends in the number 65 ("SHOOTING OF THE DISCOVERY WELL, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA.—65"), i.e. a caption number rather than a separate card number at upper right. No postmark, address, or message — back is entirely unused. Divided-back "POST CARD" stock with "PLACE ONE CENT STAMP HERE" stamp box and airmail-rate box ("FIVE CENTS TO ANYWHERE IN U.S. VIA AIRMAIL"), dating it to the late 1920s or later; white border on front, coarse screen halftone. Clean, light toning only.
Cite this card
Oklahoma City's first gusher, Oklahoma City, OK, circa 1928, postcard, c. 1928. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/oklahoma-citys-first-gusher-oklahoma-city-ok-circa-1928. Accessed November 2, 2026.
