Gladewater Oil Boom The oil business used to be a big production in Gladewater, TX. It was a part of the East Texas Oil field which consisted of parts of Gregg, Western Rusk, Southern Upshur, South eastern Smith and also Northeastern Cherokee counties in the Northeastern part of the state. The East Texas Oil Field is a very large oil and gas producer in east Texas and it covers thousands of and has many historic and working oil wells It is the second-largest oil field in the United States outside of Alaska, and first in total volume of oil recovered since its discovery in 1930. Over 5 billion barrels of oil have been produced from the East Texas Oil fields to date and it is still growing. East Texas has a large production of oil over …show more content…
The numbers were not counted but, thousands of people crowded the city in shelters and traffic turned the dirt roads into huge pits of mud. Gladewater has brick streets that were made back in this era. The spring of 1931 was particularly humid and a lot of roads were not passable by vehicles because all of the traffic made the roads unusable. The schools were filled at that time with new students that traveled with their parents who came to work for the oil companies.. Cholera, typhoid and malaria swept through the cities and shantytowns. The local jails and courts were filled and overburdened. Crime was held down town and ran by Texas rangers who had an informal license. Even though prohibition didn't end until 1933, bars by the dozen popped up all over the. Gladewater had about 400 oil wells producing oil at this time. Back in 1931, one of Texaco’s first oil derricks and pump jack units was used in the 100 block of w. commerce. There is a memorable marker there now. The oil brought quick changes to a quiet timber and agricultural community when the first oil gush blew in 1931. The old oil rig was closer to town and was one of the first pump jack units on Gladewater’s discovery of oil wells. Overnight the town produced from 500 to 10,000 people who had lost their jobs to the great depression came seeking work from Old Street into Gladewater. Tent cities …show more content…
Most early wells ended in snapped bits, dry holes, and bankrupt operators. Finally, an enterprising Alabama man, Columbus Marion (dad) Joiner, became one the first with enough drive to succeed, and on October 3, 1930, his daisy Bradford no. 3 well (named after the widow who owned the farm) hit oil at thousands of feet in the underground surface. This well is near the southeastern boundary of the oil