Archer County Discovery Well
Archer City, Archer County, Texas
Marker Inscription
M. P. Andrews No. 1, drilled in 1911, reached oil sands at 920 feet. Well first flowed oil, March, 1912, at rate of 10 barrels a day. Production in this shallow sand development area fell off when oil prices dropped, but rose after other pools in the region were tapped from 1916 to 1921. Since then, Archer County has become one of the state's most productive. The Hull-Silk-Sikes Well, 1939, opened a major field. More than 333 million barrels of crude oil have been produced by the county since 1911, with Andrews No. 1 still pumping. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Drilled in 1911, the M. P. Andrews No. 1 struck oil sand at 920 feet and first flowed in March 1912 at a modest ten barrels a day. Production sagged when prices fell but revived as other pools opened between 1916 and 1921, and the 1939 Hull-Silk-Sikes well unlocked a major field. Since that first strike Archer County has yielded hundreds of millions of barrels, with the pioneering Andrews well still pumping decades later.
Why it matters
This unassuming well opened one of Texas's most productive oil counties, part of the petroleum boom that transformed the state's economy and the nation's energy supply.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the early 1900s, Texas was waking up to what lay beneath it. The great gusher at Spindletop near Beaumont in 1901 had shown the world that Texas held oil on an enormous scale, and wildcatters soon fanned out across the state, drilling wherever they hoped the ground might pay.
North Texas, near the Red River, became one of the most active areas. In the 1910s, oil discoveries in the counties around Wichita Falls set off a string of booms that drew drillers, investors, laborers and dreamers. Small farm and ranch towns could change almost overnight once a well came in.
Archer County, south of Wichita Falls, had been cattle and farming country. Its prairies and mesquite flats looked nothing like a source of fortune. But the shallow oil sands under the county would turn it into one of the most important producing areas in the state.
The oil business was also notoriously unstable. Prices rose and fell sharply, and a field that was profitable one year could be idle the next. That boom-and-bust rhythm is written right into the history of Archer County's first well.
People & events
The story begins with a well called M. P. Andrews No. 1. Drilled in 1911, it reached oil sands at a depth of 920 feet, which is shallow by the standards of later drilling. In March 1912 the well first flowed oil, at a rate of about ten barrels a day.
Ten barrels is a modest number. This was no Spindletop gusher spraying oil over the derrick. But it proved there was oil to be had in Archer County, and that was what mattered. The Andrews well opened the door.
The early years were rocky. Production in this shallow-sand area fell off when oil prices dropped, a reminder of how closely small operators depended on the market. Then, between 1916 and 1921, other pools in the region were tapped, and production rose again. Archer County's oil story turned out to be a long one rather than a single flash.
In 1939, the Hull-Silk-Sikes Well opened a major field, taking the county's production to a new level. Since that first strike, Archer County has produced more than 333 million barrels of crude oil. Most remarkable of all, at the time of the 1967 marker, the M. P. Andrews No. 1 that started it all was still pumping.
Its place in the American story
Oil remade Texas in the twentieth century, and through Texas it helped remake America. Petroleum fueled the automobile age, powered industry, and became a strategic resource in two world wars. The fields of North Texas were part of the network of production that supplied that growing demand.
The Archer County Discovery Well represents the side of the oil story that rarely gets the headlines. Not every discovery was a spectacular gusher. Many of the state's most productive areas began with small, workmanlike wells like this one, then grew over decades as new pools and fields were found.
Its history also captures the economics of the industry. The early slump when prices fell and the recovery as new pools came in illustrate the volatility that shaped oil towns across the country. Communities learned to ride those cycles, and many were transformed for good by the wealth and work oil brought.
That a well drilled in 1911 was still producing more than half a century later is a testament to the staying power of these shallow fields. Archer County became, in the marker's words, one of the state's most productive. That legacy began here.
If you visit
Archer City is a small North Texas town, and the discovery well marker is an easy stop on a drive through the area. As you look around, keep an eye on the surrounding countryside. Pumpjacks nodding in pastures are still a familiar sight in this part of Texas, a living link to the industry that began here.
Take a moment to imagine the scene in 1912: a wooden derrick, a small crew, and the slow arrival of ten barrels a day. It's a humble beginning for a county that would go on to produce hundreds of millions of barrels.
Archer City has another claim to fame. It was the hometown of novelist Larry McMurtry, and the town became the backdrop for the film version of his novel The Last Picture Show. Book lovers and movie fans often come here for that reason alone, so the oil marker can pair nicely with a stroll around the old downtown.
For a fuller oil-history road trip, explore the surrounding North Texas counties, where the boomtowns of the 1910s left their mark. Together they tell the story of how ranch country became oil country.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related events
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Themes & tags
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