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| Spindletop, Beaumont, Texas |
The
“Gusher Age” of the Texas oil boom began with discoveries near Beaumont,
southeast of Houston.
Before long
“Wildcatters” were purchasing land to drill for oil in hopes of making a
fortune.
Texas was soon dominating US production, and by 1940 Houston
hosted the largest concentrations of
refineries and petrochemical plants in the world. This era saw the birth of the
major oil companies- Standard Oil, Texaco, Gulf, Chevron, Humble (now Exxon,)
Marathon, Amoco, and the Shell Petroleum Corporation.
1930's Houston was called the “City the Depression Forgot”
Elgin Garrison and his friend Hacker left Oklahoma and headed to Houston, jumping from a bleak economic picture into the midst of the oil boom.
It was the beginning of a 40 year career for my father with Shell Oil Company.
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| Lewis Elgin Garrison 1930's Houston Texas |
The 1930 Census shows them boarding at 4322 Polk St., Houston. Elgin is 20 years old and Hacker is 25. They are both surveyors for an oil company (Shell Oil.) Also at their boarding house is another surveyor, Eddie Watls, 22. Three other young men at the house work at a refinery- Carl Draper, 21, as a foreman, and Harry Christopher, 24, and Sidney Reand, 36, as refinery timekeepers. Harry and Sidney were also from Oklahoma.
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| Elgin and Hacker "hacking around" in front of their Houston boarding house. |
Wow, great stuff, Aunt Janice! So wait...Uncle Elgin's first name was really...Louis? I had no idea. And what became of his buddy Hacker? Did he also make the move to Long Island eventually?
ReplyDeleteHe was named Lewis after his grandfather, Lewis F. Garrison. I don't know where the Elgin came from, but only his family called him Elgin. All his friends called him Gary. Your grandmother was sometimes called Gary as well, so I suppose it got confusing! Hacker must have stayed in Texas; I remember meeting he and his wife at mom and dad's when he was visiting. I have a picture somewhere....
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