Spindletop
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop. Jan 10, 1901.
Location:	Spindletop Hill, South of Beaumont, Texas, USA
Coordinates:	30°1′9″N, 94°4′26″W
Built/Founded:	1900
Designated as NHL:	November 13, 1966
Added to NRHP:	November 13, 1966
NRHP Reference#:	66000818
Spindletop Hill in Texas

Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in south Beaumont, Texas (approx. 30.02 -94.07) in the United States. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil ("came in"), marking the birthdate of the modern petroleum industry. At 100,000 barrels of oil a day, the gusher tripled U.S. oil production overnight, ensuring the second industrial revolution would be fueled not by wood and coal but by oil and its byproducts. Some of the companies chartered to exploit the wealth of Spindletop are some of today's largest and well known corporations such as ExxonMobil, and Texaco. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop. ... Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Counties Settled 1835 Incorporation 1838 Gentilic Beaumonter Government  - Type Council-Manager  - Mayor Becky Ames  - City Manager Kyle Hayes  - Mayor Pro - Tem Nancy Beaulieu Area  - City 222. ... Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Red_pog2. ... A salt dome is formed when a thick bed of evaporite minerals (mainly salt, or halite) found at depth intrudes vertically into surrounding rock strata, forming a diapir. ... Drilling rig in a small oil field Near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 An oil field is an area with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum (oil) from below ground. ... Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Counties Settled 1835 Incorporation 1838 Gentilic Beaumonter Government  - Type Council-Manager  - Mayor Becky Ames  - City Manager Kyle Hayes  - Mayor Pro - Tem Nancy Beaulieu Area  - City 222. ... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ... is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Petro redirects here. ... The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop, Texas (1901). ... The Second Industrial Revolution (1865–1900) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. ... For other uses, see Exon (disambiguation). ... Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. ...

History

There had long been suspicions that oil might be under "Spindletop Hill." The area was known for its sulfur springs and bubbling gas seepages that would ignite if lit. In August 1892, George W. O'Brien, George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins and others formed the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company to do exploratory drilling on Spindletop Hill. The company drilled many dry holes and ran into trouble as investors began to balk at pouring more money into drilling with no oil to show for it. This article is about the chemical element. ... A natural spring on Mackinac Island in Michigan. ... Pattillo Higgins (1863-1955) was a businessman as well as a self-taught geologist. ...

Pattillo Higgins left the company and teamed with Captain Anthony F. Lucas, the leading expert in the U.S. on salt dome formations. Lucas made a lease agreement in 1899 with the Gladys City Company and a later agreement with Higgins. Lucas drilled to 575 ft (175 m) before running out of money. He secured additional funding from John H. Galey and James M. Guffey of Pittsburgh, but the deal left Lucas with only a small share of the lease and Higgins with nothing. Anthony Francis Lucas (September 9, 1855–September 2, 1921) was responsible for the first successful oil well at the Spindletop oil field in Southeast Texas, which made Beaumont, Texas one of the first oil boomtowns. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... This article is about the unit of length. ... Pittsburgh redirects here. ...

Lucas continued drilling and on January 10, 1901, at a depth of 1,139 ft (347 m), what is known as the Lucas Gusher or the Lucas Geyser blew oil over 150 ft (46 m) in the air at a rate of 100,000 barrels a day. It took nine days before the well was brought under control. Spindletop was the largest gusher the world had seen and catapulted Beaumont into one of the United States' first oil-fueled boomtowns. Beaumont's population of 10,000 tripled in three months and eventually rose to 50,000. Speculation led land prices to increase rapidly. By the end of 1902 over 600 companies were formed and 285 active wells were in operation. A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid growth, normally attributed to the discovery of a precious resource such as gold or silver. ...

Production began to decline rapidly after 1902, and the wells produced only 10,000 barrels a day by 1904. On November 14, 1925, the Yount-Lee Oil Company brought in its McFaddin No. 2 at a depth of about 2,500 feet, sparking a second boom that completely eclipsed the first discovery. Over the next ten years, over 72 million more barrels of oil were produced, mostly from the newer areas of the field. Spindletop continued as a productive source of oil until about 1936. It was then mined for sulfur from the 1950s to about 1975. is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Yount-Lee Oil Company, founded in 1914, was the successor to the Yount-Rothwell Oil Company which had been formed earlier by Miles Franklin Yount and Talbot Frederick Rothwell. ...

References

• McKinley, Fred B., and Greg Riley. Black Gold to Bluegrass: From the Oil Fields of Texas to Spindletop Farm of Kentucky, historical non-fiction, Austin: Eakin Press, 2005, ISBN 1-4241-7751-0

External links

Texas Portal

Coordinates: 30°01′05″N 94°04′23″W / 30.018, -94.073 Image File history File links This image, including all photography and graphics used in it, was taken and created by myself, Shem Daimwood. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum (flash)
• Spindletop Oilfield from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Oil and Gas Industry from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Spindletop: The Original Salt Dome - World Energy Magazine Vol. 3 No. 2