Historic Place

Corsicana Oil Field Discovery Well

Corsicana · Navarro County · Dedicated 1977 · THC Atlas #2077001462

The landmarks the nation chose to remember.

Marker Inscription

Industry, Engineering

About this site

Corsicana Oil Field Discovery Well is a historic place in Corsicana, Navarro County, dedicated in 1977. It is one of 218 historic sites cataloged in Navarro County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas.

The site sits at 32.0893, -96.4641 near Corsicana. The nearest cataloged historic site is Petroleum Industry (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Nicol, H. C., Old Welding Shop, Allyn, Charles Henry, and Collin Street Bakery.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #2077001462. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.

History

The Corsicana Oil Field Discovery Well marks the spot where, on June 9, 1894, the American Well and Prospecting Company accidentally struck oil at about 1,027 feet while drilling for a new municipal water supply. The find launched the first major Texas oil boom, seven years before the more famous Spindletop gusher, and led to the state's first modern refinery, opened by the J. S. Cullinan Company in 1898. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, the site is preserved in Corsicana's Petroleum Park as the recognized birthplace of the Texas oil industry.

Sources: tshaonline.org aoghs.org atlas.thc.texas.gov

📍 32.0893, -96.4641 · Corsicana, Navarro County

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Nearby in Navarro County

Nicol, H. C., Old Welding Shop

Corsicana City Jail of 1908

Corsicana · 1976

Historical Marker

Corsicana Public Library

Corsicana

Historical Marker

Johnson, Samuel Wistar, M. D.

Corsicana · 1989