Spivey ? Almost nobody lives here.

There is no cafe, no gas station, no bank, no church, no school.

But Kansas Highway 42 through town is bustling with traffic, and people come and go from the 10 or 12 businesses scattered around the center of town.

Spivey is an oil patch town. It once had all of the things associated with small towns – a bank, two or three churches, a grade school and a high school.

All those things are gone, but the companies that supply materials and services to the oil fields that surround Spivey remain. And others, like Sunrise Oilfield Supply, have chosen to relocate here.

That’s because Spivey is more or less in the center of one of the oldest and most productive oilfield areas in Kansas. So getting to customers in the field is easier than it would be from a larger nearby town.

That has made Spivey one of the most durable little towns in Kansas history.

‘Definitely unique’

Founded as a railroad town in 1897, Spivey flourished until the end of the rail boom and the arrival of the Great Depression. After that, it survived because of the discovery of oil.

Over the years, the oil industry has had its ups and downs. But the steady production near Spivey has kept the need for oilfield services alive.

Marci Penner, executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, says Spivey is unique among tiny Kansas towns. There are 55 towns smaller than Spivey – which has a population of about 70 – and a few more unincorporated crossroads.

Most other tiny towns are simply enclaves of housing filled with people who work in nearby larger towns.

“But Spivey is definitely unique for the scope of its daytime business,” Penner said.

The current boom in the oil industry has brought more business for existing service companies in Spivey and opportunities for new ones such as Sunrise, which makes, sells and services compressors.

“Spivey is much closer to the customers we have for our products,” said Jeff Base, who oversees the manufacturing operation for Sunrise. “So we moved it here from Ness City.”

The result is a thriving business at the town’s post office, considerable traffic and activity in town during business hours – and utter quiet when night falls.

Different pace of life

Grady Webb is one of the 70 or so people who live in the 37 households in Spivey, which once had a population of 900.

He says he loves the quiet and doesn’t mind that he has to drive to Kingman or Attica for the services normally associated with living in town.

“I’m used to it,” said Webb, who has worked in the oilfield business for 30 years and is now one of about 20 employees at Abe’s Oilfield Service.

“It’s not a lot different than living on the farm.”

Most of the 200 or so people who work at the oilfield companies in Spivey pack a lunch because there is no place to eat in town. Webb says he goes home to eat unless his job takes him out into the field.

“There’s a little lunch place over at Zenda, but they are only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” he said.

Marvin Miller has a long history in Spivey. He founded the town’s oldest company, Spivey Oilfield Services, which he sold several years ago. He now owns Jayhawk Supply, another longtime company.

Miller doubts that the town will change much as a result of the current boom in oil.

He said he thinks there will be enough oilfield activity to sustain the town’s service companies for years to come, but doubts that people will return to live there.

“The people, mostly, have already gone to the towns that have the services they need,” he said. “If you’re raising a family, you want to be near schools and doctors and churches and grocery stores.”

For now, the resurgence in the oil patch is good news, but the industry is limited by available equipment and the manpower to run it.

“Even at today’s prices, the investment in drilling for oil is substantial, and you don’t get rich overnight,” Miller said.

“I’ve been working at it since 1974, and I’ve done well. But I’ve worked hard and stayed with it, and it hasn’t been easy.”