Spindletop Oil Industry Chapter 16.2 Notes

Early Uses of Oil Spanish explorers used oil to patch their boats Native Americans used tar to waterproof baskets Sailors used pitch and tar to seal boats Workers used oil to grease machinery, axels, and wheels Tanners used oil to keep leather from drying out People used Kerosene for lighting during the 1800’s

First Oil Fields Melrose Petroleum Oil Company set up the first oil well in Texas This well, located in Oil Springs, produced about 10 barrels of oil per day The Corsicana Oil Field in Navarro County produced large quantities of oil in 1890’s By 1900, Corsicana was producing 60,000 barrels of oil per year

A Gusher Starts a Boom Lucas Gusher Oil workers struck oil at the Lucas Gusher, located on Spindletop Hill, south of Beaumont on January 10, 1901 Lucas Gusher shot out 100,000 barrels of oil per day. This was more oil than all the other oil wells in the United States combined. Within 2 years Spindletop had produced 17,500,000 barrels of oil As the number of well grew, production declined

A Gusher Starts a Boom Production fell to less than 4 million barrels by 1904 The oil boom brought wildcatters and roughnecks to Texas Wildcatters-oil seekers who take great risk by drilling in areas not known to have oil Roughnecks- field hand who work the oil fields

More Discoveries Across the State Wildcatters made many more oil discoveries in the Gulf coast region, north and central Texas, the Panhandle, and the Permian Basin in West Texas Money from the sale and learning of oil fields funded the University of Texas, Texas A & M, and other colleges Today, taxes on oil companies are a prime source of revenue for Texas

Spindletop Gusher Land prices in Beaumont rise Population of Beaumont explodes Oil Companies form

Spindletop Gusher Cities grow around new refineries Auto industry grows New jobs are created