Conoco Museum – Ponca City OK | Travel With Cajunville

Oil storage tanks, refining towers, pipes carrying raw materials and oil, and all the related activity to oil refining lined both sides of the highway coming into Ponca City, OK and reminded us of Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge, LA.Growing up in south Louisiana with refineries in our backyard, why would we be interested in a museum dedicated to refining oil? Interestingly it wasn’t the refining aspect so much as the history of the founder of Marland Oil which eventually became Conoco.

It all began with E. W. Marland and the establishment of Marland Oil in 1917. By 1920, Marland and his partners were estimated to control 10% of the world’s oil production making Marland worth $85 million. He lost it all in a hostile takeover by J. P. Morgan, Jr. in 1928. Although Marland lost his fortune, he was not finished. He went on to represent Oklahoma in Congress and serve as the 8th governor of Oklahoma.

To us one of Marland’s greatest assets was his generosity toward his employees and to the people of Ponca City. Marland Oil Company employee benefits were far ahead of their time. Employees were offered free medical and dental care. Bonuses and premiums were offered for oil discoveries and improvements along with easy ways to purchase stock. Marland purchased a bank in order to lend money to his employees to purchase affordable housing. Marland built over 1,000 homes with loans of 6%, below the standard rate at the time. Riding around the neighborhoods of Ponca City, we noticed many arts and crafts houses of the early 1900s.

The museum was full of the history of Marland Oil and the evolution into Conco. While it was interesting, the history of E. W. Marland and his contribution to Ponca City was what held our attention.