Chapter 20 The Oil Industry 1900-1940 Essential Question Slide 2
Section The Oil Industry In Texas The Oil Industry in Texas began
in 1901 with the Spindletop oil discovery. This legendary oil
strike was the start of a new era of growth for Texas. Slide 3 Just
FYI: Standard Oil Company Started by John D. Rockefeller in Ohio in
1870 Goal: control entire oil industryhe bought out all of his
competitors and cut pricesmonopoly By 1880, he controlled 90% of
oil industry US Government had to step in and broke up Standard Oil
Company in 1911 Rockefeller was estimated to be worth about 189
billion dollars
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArockefeller.htm Slide 4 Oil
Becomes an Industry For many years, oil had no value because of no
cars, etcused to lubricate machinery and produce kerosene Spaniard
used oozing oil to stop leaks on boats But, when railroads began
using oil in 1900s, there was a big demand for it Pennsylvania was
first state to produce oil (1859) Texas 1 st successful oil well:
Melrose Petroleum in Nacogdochesnot produce enough so soon
abandoned Slide 5 Oil Becomes an Industry, cont Texas 1 st
successful oil well: Melrose Petroleum in Nacogdochesnot produce
enough so soon abandoned 1894: drillers struck oil reserve in
Corsicana, TX.this discovery of oil encouraged more drilling in
Texas Petroleum: Oil Reserve: supply of oil or gas that is known to
exist but has not been used Slide 6 One Texans Vision Patillo
Higgins Dreamed of striking it rich in Texas Had brick company in
Beaumont Thought there was oil in salt dome on Spindletop Hill
Geologists didnt think there was much on Gulf Coast of Texas
Geologist: person who studies origin, history, and structure of
earth
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Business/leaders.php?name=Higgins-Pattillo
Slide 7 One Texans Vision, cont But Higgins trusted his instincts
and formed Gladys Oil Company He hired an engineer named Anthony
Lucas to help him Lucas leased the land at Spindletop Lease:
contract out (like rent) land to drill on After a couple of failed
attempts at drilling, Lucas got help from people who started
Corsicana Oil Field Slide 8 One Texans Vision, cont January 10,
1901: hit oil Oil started shooting up 100 feet in air Oil shot up
into air for 9 days until well was capped Oil formed a big lake
around the derrick Derrick: tower over well that supported drilling
equipment Had to put up barrier around lake of oil to keep well
from catching fire Slide 9 Spindletop
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Spindletop,_Texas
http://sln.fi.edu/fellows/fellow2/jan99/spindletop.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112442/
http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/russia.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112442/lucas.html Anthony Lucas
Slide 10 Video: The Discovery of Oil in Texas Slide 11 Spindletop
Oil Boom Spindletop Well was named Lucas #1 Produced 70,000-100,000
barrels oil/day After that discovery, people rushed into area and
started drilling An oil boom started Boom: time of economic growth
Within weeks, area was covered with derricks So close together,
people could walk from one derrick to anther Now have drilling
rigs, not derricks Can only have one well for every 40 acres Slide
12 Effects of Spindletop Discovery Spindletop discovery led to over
600 oil companies starting up New oil companies started but most
started up in Houston because Houston had better railroads Also,
inspired search for oil in other parts of Texas Texas economy
became oil based Slide 13 Natural Gas, An Important Resource
Natural Gas: fossil fuel often found with oil At first, oil
companies didnt know value of natural gas So, oil companies burned
off natural gas because no way to transport it Then pipelines were
built to move natural gas to storage tanks and then to markets to
sell it Slide 14 Section 2 The Oil Boom After Spindletop After
Spindletop, the race was on to discover oil in other parts of
Texas. In just 30 years, wells in all regions of the state made
Texas the worlds leader in oil production. Slide 15 The Rise of
Boomtowns New industries, boomtowns, etc grew as people figured out
more ways to use oil Boomtown: town that springs up very quickly as
a result of rapid economic growth Boomers were people who went from
boomtown to boomtown to drill wells to make money quicklythen they
would move on Boomtowns had High crime rate; very rowdy diseases
like typhoid, dysentery, etc as result of no sewer systems and
clean drinking water Slide 16 Necessity, Texas Typical Boomtown
Slide 17 Life in the Oil Patch Oil rigs operated 24/7 Long hours
and good pay Dangerous conditions Slick with oil Danger of
explosions Danger of gases that were emitted Equipment Slide 18 Oil
Creates New Industries After Spindletop, search for oil expanded
into other parts of Texas Wildcatters discovered oil in Ranger,
Breckenridge, Desdemona, Goose Creek, Humble, etc Wildcatter:
person who drills oil wells hoping to find wells in areas not known
to be oil fields Oil was discovered in Borger, Amarillo, Big Lake,
Wink, Monahans, McCamey and the Permian Basin in Midland/Odessa
area Slide 19 The East Texas Oil Field 1930: man named Columbus Dad
Joiner struck oil in East Texas near town of Henderson Joiner known
as father of East Texas Oil Field East Texas produced incredible
amount of oil About 900,000 barrels of oil/day Covered 5 counties
and produced 1/3 of nations oil Towns of Longview, Kilgore,
Tylerbecame oil towns Slide 20 Major Oil and Natural Gas
Discoveries, 1900-1940 Slide 21 Section 3 The Impact of Oil on
Texas The oil industry has been very important to the growth and
development of industry, technology, culture, and education in
Texas. Slide 22 Effects of the Oil Boom Oil companies started
Houston Midland Oil refineries in Texas started Corpus Christi
Beaumont Port Arthur Baytown Transportation ability increased as
result of oil Petrochemical Industry: started up as result of oil
industry Petrochemical: chemicals made from petroleum or natural
gas Slide 23 Petrochemical Industry 1920s: scientists figured out
how to remove chemicals from oil to make everyday things During
World War II: scientists figured out how to make synthetic rubber
(used for tires) Synthetic Rubber: rubber that comes from chemicals
rather than rubber plants Slide 24 The Development of
Transportation Oil boom led to improvements in Texas transportation
Cars invented Better roads Federal Road Act (1916) State Highway
Departments Developed road and highway systems Led to more
developments: hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc Slide 25
Travel in Texas US military bases started in Texas because of oil
and wide open spaces Oil: produced jet fuel for fighter planes in
World War I and II Commercial Airlines Aircraft production Amon G.
Carter (oil executive and newpaper owner) helped start aircraft
production in Texas
http://library.tcu.edu/spcoll/CarterExhibit/Amon_G.htm Slide 26
Oils Contribution of Culture and Education Many museums, art
galleries, colleges and universities were started by people and
companies with ties to oil industry Hugh Roy Cullen: started
University of Houston and Houston hospitals Amon G. Carter: started
foundation for contributing money to cultural and educational
purposes Amon G. Carter Museum in Ft. Worth: always free Oil
industry supports public education with oil profits going to
Permanent School Fund Slide 27 Texas Railroad Commission State
agency that regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas Slide 28
Slide 29 TIMELINE 19001940 1901 Anthony Lucas strikes oil at
Spindletop 1902 Spindletop produces over 17.5 million barrels of
oil 1914 Houston Ship Channel opens 1916 Federal Aid Road Act is
made law 1930 C. M. Dad Joiner makes a major oil discovery in East
Texas 1936 Texas has more than 1.5 million vehicles 1936 State
highways total more than 21,000 miles
