Texas Oil

The Indians and early settlers used oil seepage in a limited way, but in 1866 the first oil well was drilled using modern methods. Further wells on a small scale were commissioned until around the turn of the 20^th century when multiple new oil deposits were discovered and production soared.

We are currently staying in the East Texas oilfield. Oil was first struck here in 1930 in an area thought to be dry. Thereafter, new deposits were discovered at an immense rate, resulting in an incredible 32,000 producing wells. From the mid 1930 to 1960 the East Texas oilfield was the most productive in the world. This was especially important during WW2 when a pipeline was laid all the way to the east coast.

The principal town of the East Texas oilfield is Kilgore, which boasts an oil museum, so we drive over to pay a visit. Right outside the museum is a wooden oil derrick from the early days. These were used to feed additional sections of pipe as the drilling proceeded to greater depths.

These derricks were erected wherever the well was drilled, so old photos show how the town of Kilgore looked before WW2 when the field was in full swing.

The wooden derricks were replaced by metal as technology progressed, but the town still bore the stamp of buildings swamped by oil derricks.

From the 60s onwards production declined as the giant Alaska field and the Middle East took over. The oil reserves were running out anyway, but the derricks remained until it was decided to remove most of them. This turned out to be a bad mistake given the boom now in tourism: people will come to see original historical sites. There are a few of the derricks left, each one now topped with an illuminated Christmas star, as below.

 Inside the museum, we saw a collection of memorabilia from the boomtimes, including a full size tableau of the muddy main street during an incredibly wet 1930s as the boom frenzy got under way. A few mules even drowned in the mud it was so deep.

The life of an oil worker in the 30s was tough and much more physical than these days. Another tableau shows the drilling process where the workmen are joining on a new length of drill pipe. Don't imagine they need to oil the connection thread.

Fortunes were made and one of the magnates, a Mr H L Hunt, endowed the museum. For that he gets a statue prominently positioned, double life-size.

Gift shops generally sell goods relating to the subject matter of the museum, for instance Duxford has model aircraft and aircraft books, so I was disappointed not to see a selection of oils like 3-in-One or WD40 for sale. The books were there though.

East Texas still produces some oil, and I was surprised to find an example close to home, in fact right behind the campsite boundary hedge, the donkey engine steadily pumping away.

The Texas oil heritage is still here in this part of the state, those go-getting Texans of the oil boom years. It shows itself in large private vehicles- massive trucks- and more aggressive driving. A JR gene in each driver. Oddly, out of their vehicles, the Texans are laid back, friendly and polite, which JR wasn’t.