Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0385Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a man looking downstream of a river, oil derricks line both sides of the waterway. Above the image "41" is printed, below the image "V23246 - A Forest of Oil Derricks on Goose Creek, Texas." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company Copyrighted, Underwood & Underwood Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Portland, Oregon, London, Eng., Sydney, Aus." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
V23246
A FOREST OF OIL DERRICKS ON THE BANKS OF GOOSE CREEK, TEXAS
Petroleum, sometimes called mineral oil, or rock oil, has long been known in various parts of the world. The first mention of it in America was made in 1635 by a missionary who refers to springs found in the region that is now southwestern new York and northwestern Pennsylvania. In 1901 oil was discovered in the Beaumont district, in Texas. The first well put down in the field yielded seventy-five thousand barrels of oil in a day. The liquid spouted in a column 160 feet high and continued flowing for nine days.
In drilling wells the most common outfit is known as the derrick. The derrick is about twenty feet square at the base and from seventy to one hundred feet high. It is built of either timber or steel. This picture shows a regular forest of these derricks in the oil fields of Texas, on the banks of Goose Creeks. One such field has produced a million barrels of oil from two acres, but with so many ells the average amoung for each well is less than where the wells are more scattering.
Once an engine for pumping was a part of the equipment of each well. Now the more economical plain is followed of having a central pumping station for ten or more wells. When started, the gasoline engine will continue the work; and one may pass a long distance among wells without seeing a single person though on all sides is heard the creak of machinery magically bringing hidden wealth to the surface.
We still have senenty barrels left for each individual, but we have used an alarming proportion, and America must in a few years, at this rate, depend upon foreign fields.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection