Just south of Drumright, Oklahoma lies an almost abandoned ghost town bathed in Irish heritage. The town could have been named Ardmore, or Prairie View, but the few early settlers that lived there settled on Shamrock, Oklahoma.
This wasn’t the first time the town founder established a town named Shamrock. Back in Illinois, he started another town named Shamrock in 1900. After Oklahoma became a state, he acquired a significant amount of property and moved the town there. Of the three names suggested, the latter became the inspiration of future direction of the town.
Shamrock began life slowly. In early 1913, there were only 35 residents, two wood-frame stores, and a small restaurant. The town exploded soon after with the establishment of the Cushing-Drumright Oil around 1919. By 1920, there were over 10,000 people living in Shamrock. This made Shamrock, for a brief period of time, one of the largest cities in Oklahoma.
With this massive growth, the town became one of the most unique in Oklahoma, even taking on a shamrock green hue. The main road, aptly named Tipperary Street, was a mile long. Three brick banks and a wide variety of general mercantile stores, newspaper offices, and restaurants lined the road. Most unique, the majority of the commercial buildings along Tipperary were painted green, creating a shamrock green mile. Other businesses included the Hotel Erin and the Killarney Theater, located on Tipperary.
The legend of Oklahoma’s Blarney Stone originated during this time. Some claim that it is a piece of the original in Ireland, while others say it was taken from the same site. While its true origin remains unknown, thousands of people have flocked to the site to kiss the stone and hope for good luck. Unlike the European Blarney Stone, there is no hanging upside down or strange gymnastics to find this one simply travel to the intersection of OK Highway 16 and sixth street on the north side of town.
Like the rough and tumble Irish, the early days of Shamrock were likewise wild. As Shamrock grew up during the oil boom, large amounts of money flowed through its numerous banks. One of the first was in 1919 with the robbery and murder of one of the leading town merchants son while returning to town. Bank robberies were frequent. The First State Bank of Shamrock was robbed of $5,000 in 1920, then robbed again four years later of $2,000. In 1920’s dollars, that was quite a significant amount.
In the 1932, Pretty Boy Floyd visited the Citizens State Bank in Shamrock and liberated it of $400. By this time, the height of the Cushing oil boom had diminished, leaving the town with only around 700 people and a lot of abandoned buildings. The old railroad depot, clad with a massive shamrock painted on its side, slowly fell into disuse. Rail service lasted another 20 years, finally ending in 1957. The high school closed in 1962, and finally, the elementary school was shuttered in 1988.
The end of Shamrock as a town came in 2010 when the town was disincorporated. Today, not much is left. As of 2024, the Shamrock Museum was still going strong, and still painted shamrock green. The old jail, water tower, and a handful of old brick buildings still define the old town of Shamrock.
While not much is left, for those who don’t quite want to travel to Europe to kiss the old Blarney Stone, Shamrock is still worth a visit to seek a little extra luck.