La Kemp was formed about the time of Oklahoma statehood - 1909. Ten years
later when the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway built from Shattuck, Oklahoma,
to Spearman, Texas - the entire town moved seven miles across the state
line. Few people outside of the counties involved noticed. One has to assume
that the post office people in Washington had to be let in on this move. The town was platted shortly before the move in 1917 by Thomas C. Spearman who had Spearman, Texas named after him. The town was named for railroad engineer B. F. Booker. Booker was a civil engineer - not the man who drove the train.
An early aerial view of the town shows a simple heart shape - the main road
running down through the center of town and then splitting at the top with
both roads curving back to the bottom.The population was 600 in 1920 and the town's infrastructure was finished just before the Great Depression. 386 people called Booker home in 1940.
In 1949 oil exploration helped boost the economy to 1,500 - and oil and gas has helped keep the population at about that level.
October 2002
© John Troesser
In Drug Store in Lakemp, Okla, 1916.
(Andrew Frank Halsey's first job, working
for his uncle, Dr. Smith.)
