Black Gold, Texas Tea
Texas history can’t be separated from the history of the oil industry. Black and white photographs of oil drills, as dark as the stuff its pumping, set in grey-white fields and dotted with other dark drills in the background, can be found in most any exhibit of Texas history. Oil has shaped Texas since 1901, when those black metal arms started dotting the landscape like points on a timeline. With the most recent oil boom, it’s only fitting to compare the early 20th century oil boom to that of today.
The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop in 1901
One of these black and white photographs is brought to life at the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum in Beaumont. Here, Gladys City was reconstructed based on photographic evidence recreating businesses that operated there and in Beaumont in 1901. It was dedicated on the 75th anniversary of the Lucas Gusher in 1976. There is even a gusher demonstration that can be part of the visitor experience at the museum.
The Lucas Gusher, named after Anthony F. Lucas, shifted the oil boom into high gear that accelerated growth well beyond the confines of any idealistic dream. This setting is the origin of the recent and abrupt appearance of man camps, food trucks, drilling sites and heavy truck traffic.
Naturally, in Texas big things happen all across the state. In the 1930s, the oil boom was felt in other parts of East Texas. At the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore, a full-scale town of stores, people, animals and machinery depicting the lively activity of a town booming in oil serves as the centerpiece of the museum.
Gladys City Boomtown Street Scene
Walking the street of this town and stopping in the various shops and businesses is an experience that draws you into one of the black and white photographs. Seeing cars, trucks and horse-drawn vehicles mired in the mud provides a different lens with which to view our complaints about potholes today. The geology exhibits provide a learning experience, and perhaps the most impressive activity from a scientific perspective is taking an elevator ride to the center of the earth.
As if in direct answer to the question about the current state of the oil industry and technological advances associated with “the boom,” the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland has just completed a re-invention of its exhibits. The museum’s north and east wings just reopened after a 20-month renovation that involved 15,000 square feet of exhibit space.
Stroll through 250 million years of geologic history in the Permian Sea diorama; the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum’s Oil Patch, home to a variety of antique field equipment.
One of the new additions is the MythCrackers Theater, which addresses the reality of hydraulic fracturing. The Permian Sea, a diorama that explores the Permian Sea of about 265 million years ago, has been retained and enhanced as part of the renovation as well.
Various aspects of the oil industry story are brought down to an engaging level for the entire family using hands-on games and interactive elements on topics such as locating oil reserves and the way oil impacts the economy.
For a better understanding of past and present oil booms, you can’t go wrong with a visit to these three museums. You might even begin to see that the black arms of the oil rigs are reaching down and pumping up not only oil, but historically rich black gold.
