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Water-well contractor accidentally discovers first major Texas oilfield
On this day in 1894, a water-well contractor accidentally discovered the
Corsicana oilfield, the first in Texas to produce oil and gas in
significant quantities, while seeking a new water source for the city of
Corsicana. Civic leaders of Corsicana needed a dependable water supply to
promote commercial development. They contracted with the American Well and
Prospecting Company to drill three water wells. The drillers took the
first well to a depth of 1,027 feet, where they encountered oil. The first
modern refinery in Texas, operated by the J. S. Cullinan Company, opened
at the field in 1898. During its first century of operation, the field
produced about 44 million barrels of oil; annual production peaked in 1900
at more than 839,000 barrels. The Corsicana field established the
potential for commercial oil production in Texas; the industry has had
incalculable effects on the state's subsequent development, public
revenue, and culture.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- CORSICANA OILFIELD
- OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
- OIL EXPLORATION
- CULLINAN, JOSEPH STEPHEN
- CORSICANA, TX
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Galveston rabbi officiates at founding of historic Texas Jewish congregation (1870)
- Texas poets wed (1927)
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