The Age of Oil

1. The Age of Oil • Chapter 20, Section 1: pages 458-463

2. Dawn of a New Era • 1543- Oil first found in Texas in by survivors of the de Soto Expedition • 1866 - First Oil Well in Texas Drilled by Lyne Barret in Oil Springs, Texas. • 1890 - Oil Springs has 40 wells, refinery and pipeline to Railroads in Nacogdoches, TX.

3. Oil – Texas Gold! • January 10, 1901: Texas strikes oil at Spindletop (near Beaumont). • First major oil strike in Texas! • Gusher shot 100,000 barrels of oil per day until capped 9 days later. • Started the oil boom in Texas. • Boosted the overall economic development in Texas, especially Houston. • Begins a new ERA: the AGE of OIL

4. (Add this slide): New Demands for Oil Before 20th Century • Lubrication of machine parts • Greasing wagon axles • Kerosene for lighting lamps During 20th Century • Fuel for gasoline powered automobiles • Fuel for planes, tanks and ships • Fuel for farm equipment • Engine Lubricant

5. “Spindletop”

6. Spindletop –The First Gusher • Spindletop Hill in Beaumont was located on a Salt Dome • Pattillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas struck oil on Spindletop Hill on January 10, 1901 • 500,000 barrels of oil spewed for nine days before the well was capped.

7. Salt Dome Trap

8. ‘Boiler Avenue’ – Spindletop - 1903 By 1903 more than 400 wells were drilling on the Salt Dome.

9. The Lucas Gusher – 1901 ‘Black Gold’ ‘Texas Tea’

10. Effects of Spindletop • Impact: 1. Oil fields created new boomtowns and oil production companies in Texas (Humble Oil, Exxon-Mobil). 2. Most important – it encouraged oil drilling and production in other parts of Texas.

11. Economic Development • Spindletop led to the rise of a whole new economy and new future for Texas • Huge oil companies were forming • Refineries built to refine oil to gasoline

12. Economic Development • Pipelines and tankers built to carry oil • Storage Facilities built to store oil • Lumber used to build oil derricks

13. (Add this slide): Texas Boomtowns • Boomtowns – Beaumont grew from a lumber town of 9,000 to 50,000 • Oil Workers, speculators, gamblers, adventurers all flocked to the oil boom towns like Beaumont • Very similar to what happened 30 years earlier in the cowtowns of the Mid-West and the California Gold Rush in the 1850s.

14. (Add this slide): Texas Boomtowns Problems: • Major housing shortages • People had to pay for showers and toilet usage • Strangers, criminals, flocked to towns to make money from oil drilling and people living there • Lack of oil producing restrictions caused many wells to be pumped dry • Overdrilling and production caused severe drop in oil prices

15. (Add this slide): Texas Boomtowns Benefits: • Some towns flourished and grew into cities (Beaumont, Kilgore) • Individuals who discovered oil quickly became very wealthy • Gave rise to several major oil companies (Humble Oil, Exxon-Mobil, Texaco)

16. Oil in Southeast Texas • After Spindletop, oil operators spread their searches throughout Southeast Texas where salt domes were found • Oil Fields opened all throughout this region • Saratoga • Sour Lake • Batson

17. Humble Oil Company -1904 • 1904 – Drillers discover a salt dome about 20 miles North of Houston, in Humble • This was the beginning of the Humble Oil Company, which later became Exxon-Mobil Company, U.S.A • Refineries were first located in Humble, then moved to the community of Goose Creek

19. Goose Creek Field - 1916 • Located Southeast of Houston close to Galveston • Much of the drilling took place in Galveston Bay - offshore • Made it easy for ocean shipping • A large refinery was built here and the town was later renamed Baytown

21. Oil in North Texas • 1901 – Petrolia-19 miles from Wichita Falls • Electra – discovered by cattle rancher W.T. Waggoner had the first big boom in North Texas • Burkburnett – 1918– well named ‘Fowler’s Folly’ – gusher that produced thousands of barrels a day

22. Other Oil Discoveries • Oil in North Central Texas in 1917 • Breckenridge, Mexia, Corsicana, Luling • Geologists believed fault zone contained oil in Central Texas. • 1922 – Oil workers drilled into a fault near Luling and struck oil

23. Fault Trap

24. Houston Benefits from Oil Boom • Houston became the center of the oil business industry; “Where 17 railroads meet the sea” • Petroleum companies needed the banking, insurance, transportation, and legal services Houston could provide. • 1914 – Houston Shipping Channel opened which allowed large ships and barges into the port.

25. Oil Boom Opens Other Industries • Oil boom created demand for lumber for housing, businesses, and oil derrick construction. • Major industry in Piney Woods of East Texas. • Also created new towns built around the lumber industry.

26. QUESTIONS (1-5): • What era in Texas History best describes oil and gas exploration? • What were some of the uses of oil that different groups had used throughout Texas history. • Where /What is “Spindletop?” Looking at a map, describe the location of Spindletop using Relative Location. • What happened at Spindletop on January 10, 1901 and what were the effects of this happening? • How did Spindletop affect economic developments in Texas and the U.S.?

27. QUESTIONS (6-10): • New oil discoveries helped to create new drilling communities called ______________. Name three of these communities that grew into towns and cities as a result of oil discoveries in Texas? • How would you describe life in one of these towns? • What major Texas city became significant to the oil industry and how did the city help to grow the oil industry in Texas and greater U.S.? • How was the lumber industry affected by the oil boom? 10. List 4 things that are made from petroleum today and describe each one’s purpose.