Oklahoma Boom Towns - Carter Nine and Lloyd Raffety

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Boom Town Grocer Quits Business
as Plant at Carter Nine Shuts Down
By Bill Casto
Unknown Newspaper, Unknown Date

Sent in by Sherri Hale
Transcribed by K. Torp

Lloyd Ellsworth Raffety

Carter Nine -- The last few lines of another chapter in the history of Osage County boom town settlements was being written today as echoes of Skelly Oil Company's Carter Nine plant here died in the distance, leaving an unaccustomed stillness over the prairie which was broken only by Loyd Raffety making final preparations to close his grocery and market.

To Raffety the shutting down of the plant marked the end of two eras - the closing of a colorful boomday period and the end of his career as a grocerman.

I'm past the retirement age limit and due to the fact the plant is closing, I am retiring." Raffety, who has operate a grocery near the plant since 1935, stated.

Retirement, however, doesn't mean to Raffety what it means to some men. "I'm retiring with a lot of work to do," he pointed out. He, with his wife, plans to move to Shidler - a town he saw born - in the near future. The work will be maintaining his rental property.

Raffety moved to Lincoln County from Missouri as a youth and remained there until he moved in October 1921 to Burbank where he was employed as a bread wagon driver.

Carter Nine plant was being built at that time, near the start of the North Burbank Field, Raffety recalled.

While Raffety was driving the bread delivery vehicle for the Crockett Bakery, which was located in Burbank, his route took him to this area.

"There was no road to Pawhuska in those days. You jumped pipe lines, tore down fence posts made a new road every day," Raffety said. "Roads followed about the same route as they do now, the main difference was width. They were about a quarter-mile wide then. You couldn't travel in the same ruts tomorrow that you did today." the grocerman said.

Where did Carter Nine get its name?

The Carter Oil Company wanted to locate at Burbank, Raffety said but was unable to get the land it wanted. "The company told them (Burbank( that they would build their own town and did on a 40-acre lease they had here in Section nine so, since the lease was in section nine and it was the Carter Oil Company they called it Carter Nine."

Offices, pipe yards and a camp were built on the lease. The camp consisted of two rows of houses and later a third row was added, Raffety recalled.

Shidler came into being in February 1922(?), Raffety said.

"I was delivering bread to a Sinclair boarding house north of Carter Nine when a Mrs. Hurley told me I had better get up on the hill, that a new town was starting up there. When I got on the hill I saw them grading the main street for Shidler. A contractor had a building across from the post office - the building being where the Memorial Plaque now stands - and it was the only building there.
"I sold six loaves of bread that day and told them I would be back day after tomorrow." Raffety recalled.
On the second trip he sold 150 loaves and the following week the route had to be turned over to another driver.
"That will give you an idea how fast Shidler grew," the grocerman said.
"From 12 to 15 buildings were put up during the first week or so and a half-dozen or more stores were put in the first month," said Raffety.

Raffety drove the bread wagon for six years and remembers one time where he lost a load of bread in Salt Creek, when the vehicle became stuck. While he was gone a half-hour for help the water rose, getting into the interior of the vehicle.

Raffety then bought half-interest in a grocery store at Apperson and remained there until Sept 1, 1929, when he purchased the Stewart grocery at DeNoya, which he operated until moving here.

During the height of the boom, Raffety estimated, there were approximately 500 houses in the immediate vicinity of Carter Nine. Now there are 36, he said. In the boom days people lived in about any kind of a structure in which they could place a bed.

DeNoya, Raffety said, was considered the "toughest" town of the area during the boom while Shidler was comparatively quiet.

Carter Nine plant was operated by Carter until 1935, when it was taken over by the Skelly Oil Company. Carter's production in this area was taken over by Phillips Petroleum Company in October 1940.

Recalling bygone days and discussing his business here, Raffety said, "I've always considered - in the past- that this was the best spot for business in Oklahoma"

Closing of Carter Nine plant will effect slightly more than 20 Carter employees in the area, according to Aaron Lucas, district superintendent for Carter here. However, the district office, at least at this time, will not be affected.

Lucas said there is not sufficient production in the area to profitably operate two plants and that in the future the area will be served by the Phillips plant west of Shidler.

Ten Carter employees were transferred to the Phillips Company with the closing of the plant, a consideration in the negotiations to close Carter Nine.

Twelve other employees have been transferred to the Texas Panhandle, Lucas said. Part of the equipment at the Carter Nine plant will be sent to other operations of the company, the rest sold as scrap, Lucas said.

The Skelly plant manufactured propane, butane and natural gasoline.

The pulse of the plant lost its rhythm, slowed, weakened and stopped as workmen made the final shutdown early Sunday morning and today will mark the end of business of a store which is almost as much of a landmark as the plant itself.