Historical Marker Program

Patriarch Petrochemical Plant of the Southwest

Osage County
Location: on Main Street in Barnsdall
Coordinates: 36.561911, -96.163811
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Petroleum Council
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Industrial Period, 1941–1982; Manufacturing; Petroleum

The manufacture of chemicals from petroleum had its beginnings in the Southwest at the Tallant gas-processing plant, built in 1926 and located three miles north of Barnsdall. Liquid by-products were first processed into a formaldehyde preservant and alcohols. Processing refinements produced other petrochemicals used in a variety of products and materials. Recognized as the patriarch petrochemical plant, the Tallant facility was retired in 1954.