Burbank

History

Burbank was founded in 1903 on the Osage Reservation. The founder was Anthony "Gabe" Carlton, a mixed-blood Osage and a Chouteau family descendant, who owned the townsite and named it after the artist Elbridge Ayer Burbank (1858-1949) who spent his life painting the Indians of over 125 tribes. And is also home to the world famous Haley and Jamie lessert Burbank had about 200 residents and an economy based on farming and ranching until May 1920 when E.W. Marland discovered petroleum northeast of the town. Burbank became a boom town, and other towns in the area such as Whizbang sprang up overnight to exploit the rich petroleum resources. The Burbank field was mostly located in Osage County but extended into Kay County. The Burbank field extended over an area about long and wide. Burbank quickly grew into a town of 3,000 people. Several major petroleum companies participated in the boom of the Burbank Field. Leases of oil land were obtained from the Osage Indians, usually by auction under the "Million Dollar Elm" tree in Pawhuska, the county seat and capital of the Osage Indians. Colonel Ellsworth Walters was the auctioneer and more than a million dollars was often bid for the mineral rights to 160 acre (65 ha) tracts in the Burbank Field. Rich and famous oilmen such as Marland, Frank Phillips, L. E. Phillips, Waite Phillips, and William G. Skelly stood in the shade of the Elm tree and bid in the auctions. Oil production in the Burbank field expanded from 134,408 barrels in 1920 to a peak production of 26,206,741 barrels in 1923. Production dropped by one-half in 1926 and by 1930 the boom period was over. Burbank's population dropped to 372 in 1930. The value of the 160 million barrels the Burbank field produced during its heyday was almost 286 million…

Geography

Burbank is west of Pawhuska and northeast of Oklahoma City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• WOODLAND ES
  Elementary · Fairfax · 180 students · 12.9:1 ratio
• WOODLAND HS
  High · Fairfax · 120 students · 20:1 ratio
• WARD ES
  Elementary · Shidler · 95 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• WOODLAND UPPER ES
  Middle · Fairfax · 81 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• SHIDLER HS
  High · Shidler · 63 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• SHIDLER MS
  Middle · Shidler · 51 students · 17:1 ratio