"[5] The town of Earlsborough (as it was spelled on the town plat) began in 1891, when the Choctaw Coal and Railway (later the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad) built a line west from the Seminole Nation into Oklahoma Territory.

It was named for James Earls, a local African American who had served as an orderly for Confederate General Joseph Wheeler during the Civil War.

The spelling of the town name changed when the Earlsboro post office opened on June 12, 1895.

Statehood brought prohibition to all of Oklahoma, and the population of Earlsboro quickly dropped to 387.

News of the strike attracted workers, and the town population increased to an estimated ten thousand people within two months.

The ensuing boom led to construction of a one hundred thousand dollar hotel, a large theater, and many different kinds of business.

In 1929, the town passed a $225,000 bond issue to construct a water and sewer system.

In 1959 the Daily Oklahoman reported that Earlsboro "was the town that whisky built and oil broke.

[9] The podcast Song Salad, with hosts Shannon and Scott (featuring special guest Abby Trott), covered the town of Earlsboro in episode 66 (June 2017).