In 2009, during the last financial crisis, people were losing their homes and their savings; unemployment hit ten percent. The entire country was hurting.
Well, not the entire country. There were a few bright spots. One in particular: Williston, North Dakota.
Williston is an oil town, and 2009 was the year that fracking — the process of extracting oil using hydraulics to fracture rocks — took off. A giant oil and natural gas deposit had been discovered in Williston. Oil companies rushed in to drill the patch, creating hundreds of jobs as they hired anyone with the skills they needed.
Williston became a boomtown, like something out of the Gold Rush of 150 years ago. It doubled in size. And became a magnet for people.
Today, everything has changed. Demand for oil has dropped off a cliff, and the price of oil has gone with it. The coronavirus pandemic has made things worse.
Williston's boom is over. And the town is struggling with what, looking back, looks like an inevitable decline.
Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Newsletter.
Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts and NPR One.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7zRZ6arn19nfXN8jmltaGloZIV5fJRqaW5saGTEqbHNZphmmp%2BkurW71qdkoKeVqHqjwdKt