Bradleys Corner

Bradley's Corner, which originated sometime in 1919 between Springfield and Newton, was one of a dozen or so towns that grew up in Wichita County during the oil boom between 1918 and the early 1920s. After the gusher at Fowler Number 1 on July 28, 1918, the population of the northeastern corner of the county increased by an estimated 65,000 in fourteen months. Tent cities appeared. At Bradley's Corner, a collection of tents and shacks provided shelter for those rushing to the area; also at the boomtown were makeshift dining halls, gambling houses, saloons, and areas where dozens of cots covered by huge canvases acted as hotels. The Bradley's Corner community quickly became known as the "wickedest place in existence." By 1921, however, the noise of such saloons as Buckets of Blood had ended, and the settlement had been abandoned.