Photograph shows the members of a Crabb & McNeel Drilling Company crew on the B. W. Ebb No. 2, Pioneer Field in Eastland County."(L. to r." C. F. (Pat) McNeel, Sr.; R. W. McNeel; not known; not known; not known; and Happy Mason. Circa 1921. (Mrs. C. G. Sivells, Jr., UTSA Special Collections)
SAN ANTONIO – The oil industry has always been a major part of Texas history and now you can look back at some historical photos showing what it used to look like 100+ years ago.
According to the Texas Almanac, the Texas oil boom started Jan. 10, 1901, when the Lucas No. 1 well started spewing oil more than 100 feet in the air for nine days before it was capped.
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Thus began a massive influx of Americans to the Lone Star State that launched Texas from its agricultural roots straight into the industrial age.
Below are photos from the UTSA Libraries Special Digital Collections that show what the early oil industry looked like in Texas:
Photograph shows men with teams of horses used to haul oil field equipment. Oil derricks in background. Circa 1920. (UTSA Special Collections)
Photograph shows the members of a Crabb & McNeel Drilling Company crew on the B. W. Ebb No. 2, Pioneer Field in Eastland County."(L. to r." C. F. (Pat) McNeel, Sr.; R. W. McNeel; not known; not known; not known; and Happy Mason. Circa 1921. (UTSA Special Collections)
Woman outside temporary housing in oil camp on Ray Taylor's farm, Medina County. January 1926. (UTSA Special Collections)
Photograph shows The OK Cafe and temporary structures on left side of road, with oil derricks on right. Gander Slough oil field in Luling. Circa 1923. (UTSA Special Collections)
John Herbert Hanson of Type, Texas. Circa 1966. Image shows him still drilling oil wells at over 70 years old. Hanson built oil drilling rigs and drilled seven holes to about 3,000 feet. (UTSA Special Collections)
Photograph shows the oil gushing over the top of a wooden derrick in Luling on April 25, 1923. Seaboard Oil & Gas Co.'s Meriwether No. 2. (UTSA Special Collections)
Fire erupted at an oil field in Orange County in 1922. (UTSA Special Collections)
Dedication of the Merigale-Paul oil field near Mount Enterprise, Wood County, Texas, 1946. Pictured are Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Manziel and their baby daughter, Merigale, with the late Senator Tom Pollard and Mrs. Pollard (both standing just left of the oil well drill). (UTSA Special Collections)
