When Spindletop blew open, sending columns of oil gushing 150 feet into the air over Beaumont for nine days, it ushered in a new age for Texas and the world.
The economic boom that ensued made Texas and the United States kings of the international oil business, and, in turn, spurred the growth that helped Houston lay claim to the title "energy capital of the world."
Today, on the 124th anniversary of the discovery at Spindletop, let's look back at its legacy.
What was Spindletop, and why was it significant?
Before the oil came in, Spindletop was just a hill a few miles south of Beaumont.
Well, really, it was a salt dome. Still, no one guessed so much wealth could be hiding underneath the formation until amateur geologist and businessman Pattillo Higgins of Sabine Pass recruited partners to begin exploratory drilling throughout the 1890s. (Not-so-fun fact: Before making his fortune, a teenaged Higgins found trouble with the law after harassing Black churchgoers as a prank and fatally shooting the cop who tried to stop him. He lost an arm due to his injuries from the gunfight and was later acquitted.)
Convinced Spindletop, also called Sour Hill Mound for its sulfuric stink, was harboring oil, Higgins led several failed drilling operations that never seemed to reach deep enough into the ground. It was a decade of failures: Higgins and his business partners would repeatedly drill until they ran out of cash and then somehow came up with more money to keep drilling.
On Jan. 10, 1901, it finally paid off.
The Lucas Gusher (named after oilman Anthony F. Lucas, one of Higgins' many associates) reached more than 1,100 feet into the earth and tapped into an oil reserve unlike any seen in the world at the time. It spewed about 100,000 barrels of crude oil into the air a day until it was subdued.
"What put Spindletop on the map was its abundance," said Hope Meredith, a museum specialist at the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum in Beaumont. "There was so much oil that it gave them room to play around."
Oil was used mainly for lighting and lubrication then, and it had already been found in other parts of the U.S. The Spindletop discovery made mass consumption of oil as a fuel source — for automobiles, war machines and more — possible.
What innovations did it spark?
Spindletop revolutionized oil extraction and spurred advancements in drilling technology. The technique used by the Hamill brothers (also Higgins' partners) became the industry standard, enabling deeper and more efficient drilling into previously inaccessible reservoirs.
The unprecedented amount of oil found at Spindletop also led to innovations in transportation, storage and refining. Pipelines and large storage tanks were developed to handle the massive output, and refineries cropped up to produce gasoline.
That, of course, paved the way for the automobile industry and led to the widespread adoption of cars across the country by the middle of the century. Oil grew in importance worldwide, fueling economies, influencing geopolitics and even becoming a strategic military asset as the world sank into war in the decades that followed Spindletop.
How did Spindletop shape Houston and Southeast Texas?
By the time the boom died down in 1903, Southeast Texas was already transformed.
Tens of thousands of speculators wanting a piece of the pie flocked to Beaumont after the discovery, and the city ballooned in population to the point it had no beds for people to sleep in. Meredith, the museum specialist, said barbershops and other businesses began renting chairs to oil hopefuls so they would have somewhere to lay their backs at night.
Companies born from Spindletop, such as Texaco and Gulf Oil, and other major oil companies, like Humble Oil, set up operations in Houston and took advantage of the Ship Channel and the city's growing infrastructure. The Port of Houston became a critical artery for the export of oil and petrochemical products. Today, some of the largest oil refineries in the world are in Texas.
While the area has reaped the economic benefits of petrochemicals, it has also borne the brunt of its most dangerous pitfalls. Burning fossil fuels and other industrial activities are fueling climate-change-related disasters like stronger hurricanes and are leaking toxic substances into our air and water. And it all began here in Southeast Texas.
"People need to know just how much of an impact (Spindletop) had," Meredith said. "We're not just talking statewide, or nationwide, we're talking global. Know the history in our backyard."
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