A Slice of Oil Boom History in

Texas
By: Jillian Hoogendoorn

In the year 1900, a man named Anthony Lucas found oil at

Spindletop. This substance was never seen by people in this era.
Lucas got the word out that oil is new and innovative. Soon after,
Spindletop found out that this substance made money and put it
up for sale. Oil wells were everywhere, making thousands of
barrels. At this point in 1902, Spindletop made 17.5 million barrels
of oil. People all around the country wanted this new innovative
substance. In 1914, Spindletop knew they were going to need a
method of transportation but, cars would have taken too long. So,
the idea of building a ship channel was born and soon after, the
Houston Ship Channel was here. Now people everywhere in the
United States could get it. As the oil business went on but, there
were some concerns with the safety of the worker from the
muddy and unsafe road. With concern with that, the government
made the Federal Aid Road Act a law in 1916. As the business was
moving along, many men were searching for oil to get money for
themselves. Then in 1930, a man named, C.M.Dad Joiner made
a major oil discovery in East Texas. His discovery was one of the
most famous oil discoveries made. By 1936, the oil business has
never been better. Texas has more than 1.5 million vehicles and
the state highways total more than 21,000 miles. Oil has been
one of the most important discoveries. Just think what life would
be like without it.