No story of Upshur County is complete unless there is woven into it, the
establishment and building of Gilmer, nor is the story of Gilmer
complete unless it presents, likewise, a picture of Upshur County, for
upon the development of the county has the growth of Gilmer depended—a
growth that in the early days was slow and uncertain, but in the last
few years has been rather phenominal.
At 4:50 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, May 7, 1931, the Mudge Oil Company
brought in the J. D. Richardson well at East Mountain for an estimated
production of 30,000 barrels of oil per day. It shocked this county from
an easy going corn and cotton farming area to the prospects of great
wealth. It meant that over night, people flocked to the county, and
eventually to the county seat by the thousands. They came to buy, and
they came to sell oil leases and royalty.
Town site lots for business houses were scarce. The county’s assessed
valuation jumped from about $8,000,000 to over $25,000,000, and as a
result, the county, long burdened with debts, accumulated during many
long past lean years, again could issue script that was accepted at fact
value anywhere. The old obligations were wiped off, and a beautiful
concrete, steel and brick courthouse was built and furnished at a cost
of $200,000 and every penny of it was paid in cash!
But despite the wealth that oil has brought, Upshur County people have
still maintained the same old spirit of neighborliness toward each
other, the same old friendships, and informalities remain, and so we are
sure they always will.