On a Sunday in 1930, while Mrs. Crim was attending church, the Lou Della Crim well came in flowing at 22,000 barrels a day. This second well confirmed discovery of an incredible deposit of oil in East Texas which ultimately produced 6 billion barrels of oil. And the wells are still pumping. Mrs. Crum never moved from her family bungalow.
So let's see how the people handled this oil rush in 1930. Nestled in the pine trees and crystal clear lakes of East Texas lies Kilgore, right in the middle of the oil rush. Our destination is #3, the East Texas Oil Museum, which will give us a view into their life.
Here's our luxury coach bus so hop on and let's head for Kilgore -- it's only 124.84 miles!
Here we are at the world's richest acre. Downtown Kilgore once had 24 active oil wells that produced more than 2.5 million barrels of oil.
Thirteen restored derricks stand on the old acre in Kilgore and are lit at Christmas.
But first, let's stop at McKay's Steak House for lunch. Tarek Radjef, Doris Mott and Jimmie Roberts enjoy the buffet.
Len Matthews and Glynda Bergmann thought the food was pretty good, too.
Tall people had to duck the video screens on the bus (and no one thought to bring a movie!)
We're at the museum -- get the cameras ready.
Eagle Trailways provides great bus service -- right to the door.
Welcome to the East Texas Oil Museum. It houses an authentic recreation of oil discovery and production in the early 1930s in the largest oil field in the lower 48 states.
A dynamic symbol of the venturesome men who worked the oil fields, Joe Roughneck, welcomes everyone to the museum.
Oil derrick and rig equipment needed to pump the oil.
An old newspaper heralds new oil wells found in 1931.
A replica of an oil field stands in the lobby.
An elaborate, stained glass window in the lobby honors men who discovered and developed the East Texas oil field.
Haroldson LaFayette (no wonder he used "H. L.") Hunt was bigger than life at this museum. (Shorter than Ronnie in real life.)
Here's H.L. with his first wife, Lyda, and some of his 15 children. He was an Arkansas cotton farmer turned Texas oilman and once considered the richest man in the world. He maintained secret families with three women.
There were several exhibits of the people's homes in East Texas and how they lived in the 1930s.
Truett Wallis and Jerry share old car talk.
Wonder how that antique pickup ever got anywhere on those rough, rutted roads.
Many pictures and replicas from the 1930s.
Let's gather in the rotunda to await our tour guide.
Tom Gregory thinks the rotunda is very striking. It is constucted of carpet.
The docent tells us it took over 500 hours to make the carpet mural and it was done by a firm in Lubbock.
Then we stepped into the middle of Boomtown, USA -- a full-scale town (including muddy streets.)
Our first stop is the movie theater.
Our docent tells us about life in the oil field.
They bought these old seats for $1 each from an old movie house that was closing.
We enjoyed a short movie of actual footage of the boom period. And then we were surprised!
What's the shaking? Oh, my gosh, it feels like a real gusher is coming.
Be nice to your hard-working mule!
Lunch time!
Kilgore went from 800 residents to 8,000 residents almost over night after the discovery of oil.
Checkers, anyone?
Fill up your car at Pistol Hill gas station -- leaded only.
Angela Coronado wonders how to get across the rutted street.
Very important store in those days.
Lots of necessary equipment available at the Kilgore Oil Well Supply store.
Notice the long black tool on the right side -- it's is used for rolling logs or pipes.
Look at all the things available in the Arp General Store.
The clerk is waiting for you.
Check out the cash register with a hand crank on the side!
Something for every one!
Thousands of items from that era have been donated to the museum.
Many of us learned to sew on a treadle machine like this one.
The Wright City Machine Shop was always busy.
Buy a boomtown newspaper at the "Gusher Gazette" office.
Time to go to press!
Stop by the Overton drug store for refreshments.
They offer a complete soda fountain.
Let's dance to vintage 1930 big bands on the Wurlitzer juke box.
Pick up some medicine while you are there.
Wonder how much alcohol was in some of these?
Look at those ruts!
In the Boomtown's Museum you can take the elevator ride to The Center of the Earth.
Your guide takes you 3,800 feet below the surface of the earth to where the oil deposits lie. (See the drill bit?)
A car wash would do well here!
No ATMs at this bank.
Does she look like a safe cracker?
Mother and daughter enjoyed the trip.
Then back toward Dallas but let's stop in Edom, an artist's enclave, on the way.
All kinds of shops.
Wonderful pottery store protected by an attack cat.
Let's go get some award-winning, homemade ice cream.
The ice cream store is just around the bend.
Oh, no! It closed at 3:00. Let's go back.
World-class pie and cobbler was excellent at The Shed which was voted #1 cafe in East Texas by Texas Monthly magazine.
Here come lots of calories.
Edom loves the Dallas Cowboys as does Len Matthews.
The sun sets as we huddled in a rest stop on highway 64 waiting for the tornado to miss us! Tarek Radjef kindly moved up and down the aisle urging us to fasten our seatbelts.
No, we didn't see any tornado -- just downed fences and trees where it had been a few minutes before. We passed its route aout two miles from where we stopped.
