January 7, 1905 – Humble Oilfield Discovery rivals Spindletop
C.E. Barrett discovered the #Humble oilfield in Harris County, #Texas, with his Beatty No. 2 well, which quickly brought another #drilling frenzy to Texas four years after Spindletop launched the modern petroleum industry. The Beatty well produced 8,500 barrels of oil per day from a depth of 1,012 feet.
An embossed postcard circa 1905 from the Postal Card & Novelty Company, courtesy the University of Houston Digital Library.
The town of Humble grew from 700 to 20,000 in a few months as production from the field – the largest in Texas in 1905 – reached almost 16 million barrels of oil. The field would lead to the founding of the Humble Oil and Refining Company in 1911 by a group that included Ross Sterling, a future governor of Texas.
“Production from several strata here exceeded the total for fabulous Spindletop by 1946,” notes a 1972 historical marker. “Known as the greatest salt dome field, Humble still produces and the town for which it was named continues to thrive.”
Humble Oil Company later consolidated operations with Standard Oil of New Jersey, eventually leading to today’s ExxonMobil. Another oilfield discovery in 1903 at nearby Sour Lake established Texaco.
Source: https://aoghs.org/this-week/