OIL AND INDUSTRY

INDUSTRY Railroads = spread of industry Bread Cattle industry Brought raw materials to Texas Products sent to Northern U.S. Refrigerated railroad car = Texas beef shipped unspoiled Spread of coal industry in TX Cotton farming = textile mills Cottonseed oil Bread Flour and grist milling – top industries Cattle industry Meat packing – further north and west (Fort Worth)

LUMBER Big Thicket National Preserve – protect 84,000 acres of forest – once forested Sawmills – demand for wood; late 1800s leading industry Railroad ties, fuel, houses Company Towns Kirby Lumber Company 1901; 300,000 acres of pine lands & 14 mills So large – established communities Company control – paid in scrip Money only valuable at company stores

COAL - minerals Low-grade coal in Texas = little market value 1870s – used to fuel steam-powered locomotives Raised demand – 2 million tons a year moved Strip mining – method of mining that strips away layers of earth and rock Altered landscape permanently Quarries – Granite, salt, copper, limestone Oil and gas = state’s most valuable fossil fuels Cities grew around industry

WORKERS Wage earners = new class Industry offered new way of life Paid by day, week or month – varying wages (about $225 year) 1870 - Typically male - more children than women 1900 – more women – wage increased to about $425 year Offered choice – towns, spending Newspapers = more aware Industry offered new way of life Dangerous, unhealthy Injuries = no pay

LABOR UNIONS Change for bad conditions Employers too powerful; employees organize to form LABOR UNIONS Knights of Labor – appeared in Texas 1882 Accepted minorities Organized strikes

VISUAL SUMMARY Farming Leads to Growth New Industries Emerge Industry, railroads, and commercial farming create a demand for new products New Industries Emerge The growth of lumber, coal, and mineral industries leads to the creation of company towns and the growth of industrial cities The New Industrial Worker Industry growth creates a new working class in Texas. The need to correct poor working conditions leads to the creation of labor unions.

OIL INDUSTRY Oil in Texas = no value without a use Railroads – use as fuel Oil wells – 1894 drillers found major reserve in Corsicana Pattillo Higgins – searched for oil in Spindletop Hill Failed attempts – hired engineer Anthony Lucas Lucas drilled and failed; then hit oil on January 10, 1901 The gusher shot oil for 9 days – then capped Anthony Lucas Pattillo Higgins

OIL INDUSTRY Spindletop well = Lucas No. 1 Produced 70,000-100,000 barrels per day Oil drillers rushed to Gladys City; within weeks the fields were covered with derricks Land worth more Beaumont grew rapidly Most companies set up in Houston – closer to railways

OIL INDUSTRY

EFFECTS Changed the future of Texas Too many wells = overdrilling After 17,500,000 barrels of oil 1902 – wells began to slow (47,900 a day) Down to 10,000 a day Businesses in Gladys City began to close Led to the creation of 600 oil companies Shift to oil economy in Texas New source of inexpensive, efficient oil

OIL BOOM After Spindletop – next boom 1920s and 1930s Growth occurred rapidly Population, new industries and economy Boomtowns Boomers arrived – thrill seekers; work until oil is struck then move on Crowded, noisy, crime, disease, little safe water to drink Clean water more expensive than oil Oil workers – Dangerous – fumes, falls; 12 hr days; good pay for hard work; wells shutdown quickly Oil search spread across the state – wildcatters found it in unexpected places Pumping more than was useful

DEPRESSION Great Depression – time of low economic activity and high unemployment Limits were put on the production of oil Hot oil – illegal production of oil Prices fluctuated over time – effect on transportation based industries

PETROCHEMICAL Removal of chemicals from petroleum Makes household items Explosives, Synthetic rubbers - i.e., tires Environmental concerns – processes create toxic waste (cancer causing fumes and gases)

TRAVEL Creation of automobile 1900 Oil led to improved transportation system – need for better roads “good roads” association – concerned citizens Highway system – Federal Aid Road Act 1916 State highway departments Spurred businesses along roadways Airplanes = demand for fuel War, commercial