East Texas Oil Museum, Kilgore, Texas

On our way back to Texas after our winter vacation in Florida, our last stop was near Kilgore, Texas where we stopped to visit the East Texas Oil Museum. The Museum pays tribute to the independent oil producers and wildcatters who dared to dream and pursued the fruits of free enterprise starting in the 1920s. Their relentless efforts resulted in the discovery and development of the remarkable East Texas Oilfield in 1930 and beyond. The museum preserves the history of East Texas in the 1930s through artifacts, oral histories, and other documents. The msueum created a mosaic that documented the spirit and essence of East Texas during that transformative era.

In October 1930, C.M. (Dad) Joiner and A.D. Lloyd (Doc) struck oil naer Henderson on Daisy Bradford's farm, leading to an unprecedented oil boom. This discovery transformed the rural landscape into a bustling hub of drilling rigs, derricks, and oil-related activities. The oil boom attracted thousands of prospector, entrepreneurs, and workers, causing a population surge and the emergence of new oil towns. The East Texas Oilfield was the largest oilfield in the contiguous United States at the time of discovery.

The oilfield had a profound economic impact, providing employment, fostring business growth, and boosting local and national economies. The boom created jobs, attracted investment, and supported the expansion of refineries, pipelines, and petrochemical plants. The newfound wealth from the oil industry also contributed to infrastructure development, schools, and public servics in East Texas.

Where is oil found? ~~

The many pictures on the walls of the museum tell stories of how fast the cities grew during the oil boom ~~

Mattie's Ballroom and the End of Prohibition ~~ The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution passed on December 5, 1933, ending the nationwide ban on alcohol imposed by the 18th Amendment. This amendment transferred alcohol regulation from the federal government to individual states, allowing them to create their own laws governing its sale, distribution and consumption.

The Schools ~~

When news spread about the discovery of oil during the Great Depression, boomers came to the East Texas Oilfields to work, possibly to get rich in such poor times. People lived where they could, in homes, shacks, in churches, city buildings, and under the stars in pastures and in front yards. Where there were families, there were children who needed to be educated.

In the early years of the boom, 1930-1931, there were hardships for teachers and students alike. Many of the oil workers were poor; their children had to b furnished food, clothing and school supplies at school. Teachers, on a $100 a month salary, who had as many as 75 pupils in one room, were more like Red Cross workers trying to meet food and clothing needs with handouts and hand-me-downs. Discipline was at a minimum with such large numbers of students. "Annex" was the word used for the jerry-built schoolrooms that clustered around the main one-room wooden schoolhouse. Classs were often divided between two teachers, each taking half-day shifts, handing out paper and pencil supplies to those who could not afford their own. Almost every class day was interrupted by a student having to leave because a brother, father, or uncle had been killed or injured when a crown block had fallen and decapitated the rig worker or broken his leg.

The boom also placed excruicating pressure on the local school system. In the fall of 1931, the Kilgore public school system saw 2,600 students enrolled for classes in buildings that were inadequate in size and supplies. Transportation was poor on unpaved roads that muddied so much during rains that students often pushed the school buses as often as they rode them. But the situation did improve as the boom era ended. Taxes from oil-rich land filled the schools' treasury; an enormous building program was begun and the system in a short time had excellent eductional facilities.

The Churches ~~

On Sunday morning, December 27, 1930, the second landmark well, the Crim No. 1 blew in at 22,000 barrels a day. The well was located on the 900 acres of land owned by Mrs. Lou Della Crim, a 62-year-old resident of Kilgore. This particular Sunday would prove to be significant in the economic history of East Texas, but Mrs. Crim chose to attend church services that morning and did not discover the success on the well site until she returned home. Mrs. Crim is evidence of the solid church-going background of this boom era. Riches could be made, but the church also held a prominent place for local residents. 

There were three churches in the immediate area of Kilgore at the time of the oil discoveries. These churches had strong congregations, whose numbers would swell with the influx of oil field workers living not only in the oil field shacks, but in the church buildings, anywhere there was shelter. Ministers gave sermons at the morning and evening services because their audiences were different groups of off-duty workers, who came to church in their khakis, mingling with those in regular Sunday dress. For their miniterial efforts, preachers were paid $35 per Sunday.

There were other struggles too, blamed on boom-time lawlessness. Plagued by vandalism, looting, and general abuse, the frame steepled building of the First Baptist Church was abandoned and used as a jail where prisoners were chained to the floor were pews once stood. 

The other two churches also became victims. On Sunday, August 22, 1931, these two churches were burned to the ground in a series of five fires that the Texas Rangers and the National Guard, there to keep the peace on the oil fields, could not solve. These remain unsolved today. The town took on the label of a "town without a church," even though it was not a true label. The members of each of the churches continued to meet at various places around town to worship,

All of these churches had an integral part in supporting the boom in oil. This was the Depression era and many of the workers were poor. The churches' charity furnished food and clothing which endeared the recipients to the churches, which assisted them in becoming members. Today there are more than 30 churches thriving with growing memberships and enlarging properties.

New London ~~ A Community Transformed. From humble agricultural beginnings to oil boom prosperity, the story of New London, Texas represents a remarkable journey of growth, innovation, and resilience in early 20th century America.

Before we went into the little town that they had in the museum, we watched a video that explained what fracking actually is. We had never heard an explanation of fracking and this video actually explained it in such a way that shows how it's actually done. I don't know why climate alarmists think it's so bad and harmful, when it does appear to be. They just don't understand how it's done and what actually takes place.

What is fracking? ~~ Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) is a drilling technique used to extract natural gas and oil from deep underground rock. It involves drilling a well thousands of feet down and turning it horizontally, then injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals to crack the rock and release trapped fossil fuels. 

I've attached two videos on fracking. The first one is a little over 2 minutes in length; the second video is 40 minutes in length.

Chances are you've heard of fracking, but here's something you might not know: fracking helps us produce affordable energy while minimizing our environmental footprint.

Original Broadcast date: June 24, 2014. Ezra Levant goes to rural Pennsylvania and documents the true nature of "fracking" by going to a site and talking to the people involved at every level of the process. Most people have only been exposed to the "Gasland" movie but this coverage tells the true story of how it's done and what the true impacts are on the environment and the world.

As we head into Boom Town, we are greeted by an electrical engineer upon entering ~~ 

Oil Well Supply

General Store

Oberthier Well, Kilgore, 1930

Down the middle of the street shows how people hauled their goods when the road was full of mud ~~

Core Sample

Note that this Woodbine core sample is saturated with oil. It is this show of oil, as well as other less dramatic evidence, which keeps drillers on the job in search for oil.

Core Sampling: How to find out what's going on down below ~~ Samples of rock taken from oil wells have been studied by oil men from the earliest history of drilling. Drillers look for some clue to the presence of oil in these samples brought up from various depths. In 1930, Ed Laster examples samples taken at 3,536 feet from Dad Joiner's well. Oil-saturated sand from Joiner's Daisy Bradford #3 gave Laster enough encouragement to keep him drilling to bring in Dad Joiner's discovery well.

Early cable tool drillers brought up crushed rocks every time they ran their bailers, but these small samples were limitd in their value at predicting oil. Later, a more formal sampling technique used a sharp, hollow-pointed tool which picked up samples of rock as the tool was dropped repeatedly on the bottom of the hole.

The first core bits which were developed for rotary methods of drilling were made by cutting teeth in the end of a plain piece of pipe. When the hollow shaft of the bit had cut its cylinder of stratum, the driller allowed the weight of the drill pipe to crimp the teeth of the bit. The core sample was brought to the surface for examination. Many bits have been developed to take core samples. The most recent improvements have been in the use of diamonds as cutting edges.

The next exhibit we visited was the Elevator Ride to the Center of the Earth with Professor Rockbottom, a Famous Geologist. They did have a young man helping with this exhibit. We walked into the elevator and sat down to watch the show with Professor Rockbottom and his assistant.

Upon our return from the Center of the Earth, we continued our walk through Boom Town ~~ 

Wright City Machine Shop

Oil Well Fires ~~ The East Texas Oil Field was soon densely populated with oil rigs, oil machinery, and people who were directly or indirectly associated with the oil production. Life on the field was not without its hazards. Inclement weather slowed work; mechanical failure stopped work sometimes for several days while they wait for parts; and workmen became ill, injured or were often killed on the job site. But one of the most dreaded hazards was the oil well fire. Because of the close proximity of rigs, flammable materials and people, a fire could be devestating. Therefore, several methods were known and used to extinguish a fire.

One successful method was the use of steam. The rigs were powered by steam boilers, but when there was a fire, several boilers were placed around the burning well, and the steam was directed toward the fire in such amounts as to extinguish it.

A second method was to pump mud slush into the fire to smother it. This method was often used with the steam to stop larger fires. When the oil pressure was not too forceful, large metal hoods capped and snuffed out the fire.

Dynamite was also used. The force of a dynamite explosion in the flames would change the flow of the well and kill the fire. The effect was similar to blowing out a candle.

A huge gusher of a fire causing death to 9 workmen

Daisy Bradford #3

Cross Roads Barber Shop

Guaranty State Bank

The man who showed the movies ~~ The man who ran an early movie house in East Texas was a busy person. He might own the theater as well as sweep the floors, pop the corn, sell tickets, and run the movie film through the projectors.

Early movie reels of film were only 1000 feet long. The projectionist had to stay alert to have the next reel in the series ready when the first reel ended. More than one projectionist, returning to his tiny upstairs room a moment too late, found that he was ankle-deep in film spilling from the reel that had just ended. Knowing that the film was highly flammable didn't make the job any easier.

Early "talkies" required the projectionist to synchronize playing a disc recording with the image on the screen. Frequently adjustments were necessary throughout the movie to keep the heroine from sounding like the hero. In 1929, sound was recorded directly on the film. The introduction of th 2000 foot reel and a noncombustible film were other improvements which simplified the projectionist's job.

As the Boom came in, movies were more popular than ever. Shows ran from morning to midnight. And for a Boomer with no place to live, a 15¢ theater ticket got him a place to sleep.

Morocco

Morocco is a 1930 American romatic drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich. The production company was Paramount Pictures.

Wurlitzer

Joinerville Feed & Seed

Gristmill

The Boom Town gristmill came from Alabama where it was powered by a small stream. Used in the Kilgore area in the early 1900s, the gristmill was powered by the steam engine which also ran a cotton gin.

After the cotton season was over, the gin owner offered his gristmill to local farmers for grinding corn. Farmers bartered useful items for the miller's services. The taking of a "toll" was an accepted practice. The miller took a toll of 1/8 of the farmer's whole corn as the fee for grinding. A small square box received the miller's toll of corn. Farmers usually ordered small quantities of their corn milled at one time to reduce the loss of the ground corn to insects. 

Did you know that all of these modern day household products use petroleum?

Mobile Oil Flying Pegasus ~~ The flying red horse was initially introduced by Vacuum Oil in South Africa in 1911. In 1931, following Vacuum's merger with Socony, this red Pegasus symbol was officially adopted as the trademark for the company in the United States. In 1968, Mobil revamped their service stations with a new look featuring the Pegasus emblem. Today, the red Pegasus stands out as one of the most widely recognized corporate symbols in American petroleum history. Interestingly, this original sign adorned the Field Research Laboratory in Duncanville, Texas (pictured above). 

Mack Ice Truck, circa 1929

This vehicle came off of the Mack's Allentown, Pennsylvania production line on March 13, 1929. Similar vehicles transported ice daily during the oil boom.

History of the Era's Trucks ~~ The Ice Boom: Ice delivery was essential during the sweltering summers of the East Texas oil boom. Historic photos from 1944 show the Kilgore Ice Co. using similar heavy-duty vehicles to load and distribute ice to thirsty oilfield workers and boomtown residents.

The Texas Bucket List highlights the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore: