Chapter 23
The Oil Boom
Section 1
The Birth of the Oil Industry
Oil Becomes an Industry
• Railroads began using oil for fuel in the 1880’s and
demand increased.
• Most people thought that you could only find oil in
the Northeast.
• There was only one oil company in the U.S. at the
time, Standard Oil.
Standard Oil Founder John D. Rockefeller
Spindletop
• Pattillo Higgins and
Anthony Lucas believed
there was oil near
Beaumont on Spindletop
Hill.
• Geologists believed that
Texas had little oil.
• They began drilling in
1899. After many false
starts and failures….
Pattillo Higgins
Anthony Lucas
Gusher!!!!!
In 1901 they hit the
largest oil reserve the
world had ever seen.
The “Gusher” of oil shot
100 feet into the air for
nine straight days until it
was capped.
Oil surrounded the
derrick formed a small
lake of oil. Which caught
fire but the workers put it
out safely.
On January 10, 1901,
Captain A. F Lucas, with
financial backing from
the Mellon interests,
made the most
important oil discovery
in Texas history in
Southeast Texas at
Spindletop.
For nine days Spindletop
spewed oil unchecked, with
between 70,000 and 100,000
barrels flowing from it daily.
As word of the big strike
spread, speculators of all
stripes rushed to Beaumont.
Oil Boom
• The well named Lucas No. 1 produced more than any well
in the world at the time.
• People began buying and selling land in East Texas in hopes
of finding oil on the land.
• Soon after, Spindletop and the surrounding area was
covered in Oil Derricks.
“The boom that Spindletop triggered would ultimately see oil
surpass both cattle and cotton to become the linchpin of Texas
prosperity.”
The Effects of the Spindletop Discovery
People once
again saw an
opportunity to
make money and
flocked to Texas.
This was called
an “Oil Boom”
What are some
other get rich
opportunities like
this we have
talked about?
Land prices soared wherever oil was discovered.
Beaumont's population increased from 10,000 to
50,000 in a few months.
• Over drilling at Spindletop
resulted in the drying up of the
well.
• Just two years after its start the
area was only producing 10,000
barrels a day.
(compared to the 100,000 when it
started)
• Spindletop inspired a state wide
search for oil and the creation of
600 oil companies, including Gulf
and Texaco.
The Rise of Boomtowns
• The oil boom led to a population growth and economic
boom in Texas.
• Towns began to spring up in areas where oil had been
found.
• Crime, disease, and a lack of safe drinking water were just
some of the problems in these new towns.
The Search for Oil Expands
• Oil fields began to be
found all over Texas,
not just in Southeast
Texas.
• Wildcatters were
people who drilled
wells hoping to find
oil.
The East Texas Oil Fields
• The most productive oil fields were in East Texas.
• Columbus “Dad” Joiner made one of the richest discoveries
near Henderson.
• He produced so much oil the government had to regulate the
amount of oil he could pump out each day.
• The East Texas Oil Fields were producing 900,000 barrels a
day.
Life in the Oil Patch
• Life was hard for drillers.
• Workers had long hours, Rigs
operated 24 hours a day and men
had 12 hour shifts.
• Falling from a derrick meant
death and the gases from the
wells could burn a workers eyes,
cause illness, or even death.
But the job was in high demand because it
paid well. People traveled long distances to
work in the Texas Oil Fields.
Spindletop, Texas oil fire.
Spindletop was the location of
the first Texas oil well.
Oil Created many Spin-off Industries
Oil-related spin-off industries: refineries, pipelines,
asphalt, tank cars, ocean-going tankers, harbors,
machine shops, oil and gas lawyers, petroleum
engineering, petroleum geology, oil leasing,
automobiles, roads paved, natural gas,
petrochemicals
Starting as early as 1898, some
locomotives ran on oil instead of coal.
Rotary drills and improved bits made deeper drilling possible
and expanded the industry in 1926 to West Texas.
“HogTown”—
Desdemona, TX.
Environmental problems:
derricks too close
together, fire, health
hazards, water pollution.
Voluntary standards
ignored. After World War I,
the Railroad Commission
enforced regulation.
Beaumont Saloon near
Spindletop, 1901.
By 1928, Texans owned 250,000 motor vehicles,
and businesses that serviced these vehicles would
become a major industry.
Texas Oil Production:
•1896: 1,000 barrels
•1902: 21 million barrels
•1929: 293 million
barrels
Nineteenth-century Texans never dreamed
that oil and the state would become
permanently intertwined in myth and
economics. They had considered themselves
as cotton farmers and cattle ranchers, but
Spindletop changed that, ushering Texas into
the twentieth century with a bang and
making the state ultimately different from its
southern neighbors.