Historical Marker of First Oil Well In Hidalgo County

I did a quick stop and took the following pictures of the historical marker of the first oil well in Hidalgo County. The well that the marker refers to was drilled on what used to be originally Porcion 40 given to Jose Antonio Castaneda, but when oil was discovered in 1934 it was on land that now belonged to Ed W. (Captain) Sullivan. The well was named after the driller of the well Otto Woods.

John M. Lawrence No. 1 oil well was brought in September 18, 1934, near this site by veteran driller Otto C. Woods. Well flowed 1,000 or more barrels a day. At first the oil formed a lake beside the well. County has produced 20 million barrels of oil. (1968)

Cotton field behind marker, where location of well must
have been.

Location of Marker on Google Maps:



View Hidalgo County Historical Markers in a larger map


Note: Permission is granted to reuse these images as long as a link back to this website is provided.

Source: http://www.cemeteries-of-tx.com/Etx/Hidalgo/Cemetery/benavides.htm

Copyright © Moises Garza. All rights reserved. Article may be reused for any purpose, and it is encouraged, as long as it is non-commercial use and it includes this notice. An effort has been made to use materials that provide credit to author or rights holder. If you find anything that should not be listed in this article contact me at moisesgarza@gmail.com

Old Hidalgo County Maps at The Portal To Texas History

I was browsing through The Texas Portal to Texas History and I found the following two maps about Hidalgo County. You can download them but the quality is not that great, but if you check the View in High Quality link at the bottom of each image. Their quality is stunning. The first map also has excellent layout of the South Texas Land Grants in Hidalgo County, Texas.

View in High Quality

Hidalgo County

Date: 1880-04
Creator: Langermann, A. B.
Description: Map of Hidalgo County, Texas, including the South Texas Plains region. Scale ca. 1:133,334 (4000 varas per inch).
Contributing Partner: Texas General Land Office

View in High Quality

Hidalgo County



Date: 1863-05-20
Creator: unknown
Description: Map of Hidalgo County, Texas, including the South Texas Plains region. Laguna Madre is marked in blue, as shown on map. The roads to San Patricio, Texas, and from Rio Grande City to Corpus Christi, Texas are marked on map. Scale ca. 1:133,334 (4000 varas per inch).


Sources:

First Map

Langermann, A. B.. Hidalgo County, Map, April 1880; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth88649 : accessed November 16, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas General Land Office, Austin , Texas.

Second Map

Hidalgo County, Map, May 20, 1863; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth88650 : accessed November 16, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas General Land Office, Austin , Texas.

The Portal To Texas History

Copyright © Moises Garza. All rights reserved. Article may be reused for any purpose, and it is encouraged, as long as it is for non-commercial use and it includes this notice. An effort has been made to use materials that provide credit to author or rights holder. If you find anything that should not be listed in this article contact me at moisesgarza@gmail.com