Oil in Texas

"As the twentieth century began, oil in Texas was easy to find, but of little commercial value. Oil and natural gas bubbled up in many a water well, but in quantities too small to attract industrial capital and production. Then, on January 10, 1901, the Spindletop gusher blew in. Over the next fifty years, oil transformed the state of Texas, creating a booming economy that built cities, attracted out-of-state workers and companies, funded schools and universities, and generated wealth that raised the overall standard of living - even for blue-collar workers. No other twentieth-century development had a more profound effect upon the state.". "In this book, Diana Davids Olien and Roger M. Olien chronicle the explosive growth of the Texas oil industry from the first commercial production at Corsicana in the 1890s through the vital role of Texas oil in World War II. Using both archival records and oral histories, they follow the wildcatters and the gushers as the oil industry spread into almost every region of the state. The authors trace the development of many branches of the petroleum industry - pipelines, refining, petrochemicals, and natural gas. They also explore how overproduction and volatile prices led to increasing regulation and gave broad regulatory powers to the Texas Railroad Commission.". "This overview of the gusher years of Texas oil offers an essential key to understanding the state's transition from a rural, agrarian-based economy to the urban, industrialized society of today. Refuting a common belief that natural resource development ultimately impoverishes a region, it demonstrates that Texans quickly recognized the opportunities created by the oil boom and took full advantage of them."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.