East Texas Oil Field
Markers, Museums and History
Big Inch Pipeline
Marker Title: Big Inch Pipeline
Year Marker Erected: 1990
Marker Location: Martin Luther King at Pittman St.
Marker Text: Before the United States entry into World War II
following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, ninety-five
percent of the crude oil delivered to East Coast refineries was transported
by tanker ships. Ninety percent of that oil originated from Texas oil
fields. Beginning in February 1942, many U.S. oil tankers en route
from the Gulf of Mexico to the East Coast were sunk by German submarines.
Recognizing the need to transport oil under safer circumstances, Secretary
of the Interior Harold Ickes developed a plan for massive overland oil
pipeline. Under the auspices of the War Emergency Pipelines, Inc., construction
began on the largest pipeline in history up to that time. Measuring
twenty-four inches in diameter, the Big Inch pipeline extended from
Longview to Norris City, Illinois, and eventually to refineries in the
East. The Big Inch pipeline's impact on the war effort was tremendous,
enabling the safe and timely transport of oil products vital to the
Allies. During the height of wartime service, over 300,000 barrels of
oil were delivered each day over the 1,476-mile line. When the war ended,
the Big Inch continued in service after conversion to a natural gas
Lou Della Crim
Marker Title: Lou Della Crim Home
Address: 201 N. Longview St.
Year Marker Erected: 1981
Marker Text: This bungalow style residence was constructed in
1920 for Lou Della (Thompson) Crim (b. 1868), on the former site of
the Hearne Hotel. The farm she owned at Laird Hill (4 mi. S) was part
of an oil exploration project headed by her son Malcolm, later the first
Kilgore mayor, and local financier Ed Bateman. Her property gained national
attention on Dec. 28, 1930, when the Bateman-Crim Wildcat Well No. 1,
the discovery well for this area of the significant East Texas oil field,
blew in there. Area Rangers, including the celebrated Capt. M.T. (Lone
Wolf) Gonzaullas, were housed here.
Marker Title: Dean-Keener-Crim House
Address: 101 E. Lantrip St.
Year Marker Erected: 1975
Designations: Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
Marker Text: The one-story east wing of this house, considered
the oldest still standing in Kilgore, was built by S.G. Dean about
1876. After buying the structure in 1881, L.J. Keener (1840-88) attached
the two-story west wing. Wiley N. Crim (1865-1937) a cotton ginner and
grocer, added porches and enclosed the well when he purchased the house
in 1902. His family still owns and occupies it. Oil was discovered on
this and nearby Crim property during the boom of the 1930s. Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark - 1975
Location: 514 N. High Street
Museum Name: East Texas Oil Museum at Kilgore College
Mailing Address: Hwy 259 at Ross St.
Zip Code: 75662
Area Code: 903
Location: Hwy. 64
World's Richest Acre
Marker Title: World's Richest Acre
Address: Main and Commerce
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Marker Text: Part of fabulous East Texas oil field discovered
in 1930. This 1.195-acre tract had first production on June 17, 1937,
when the Mrs. Bess Johnson-Adams & Hale No. 1 well was brought in.
Developed before well-spacing rules, this block is the most densely
drilled tract in the world, with 24 wells on 10 lots owned by six different
operators. This acre has produced over two and a half million barrels
of crude oil; selling at $1.10 to $3.25 a barrel, it has brought more
than five and a half million dollars. A forest of steel derricks for
many years stood over the more than 1,000 wells in downtown Kilgore,
marking the greatest concentration of oil wells in the history of the
world. Dozens of these derricks still dot city's internationally famous
skyline. Since 1930, the East Texas oil field has produced nearly four
billion barrels of oil. It now has more than 17,000 producing wells,
and geologists predict a future of at least 45 years for this "granddaddy
of oil fields." Its development has attracted to the area many
diversified industries and a progressive citizenship with a high degree
of civic pride.
The following brochure was a cooperative effort by the Longview Convention and Visitors Bureau, Longview Chamber of Commerce, Kilgore Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, Gladewater Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.
It was brought to our attention and confirmed that the New London School Explosion was on March 18, 1937 not the 19th as mentioned above.