Home County of Lafayette Lumpkin Foster
Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A state representative, 1885-1886; speaker of the house, 1885-1886. President of Texas A. & M., 1898-1901. Appointed by Gov. James S. Hogg to newly-formed commission, created to regulate shipping rates and practices. In his term, 1891-1895, transportation of petroleum became important to Texas railways. Oil and gas regulation, a major responsibility, began in 1917 with jurisdiction over pipelines. The Legislature made the commission responsible in 1919 for oil and gas conservation. Proration began in the 1920s. Complete regulation in east Texas, and use of martial law to enforce commission rules. Commission policies were acclaimed when in World War II Texas was able to supply the allies with great stores of oil necessary for victory. The commission's goal is to prevent waste and protect oil and gas reserves by orderly regulation of exploration, production and transportation. Such men as Commissioner Foster set high ethical standards that still prevail, causing the commission to merit the confidence of the people and of the petroleum industry.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Lafayette Lumpkin Foster packed several careers into Gilded Age and Progressive-era Texas: state representative and speaker of the house in the mid-1880s, president of Texas A&M at the turn of the century, and an early appointee to the Railroad Commission created by Governor James S. Hogg in 1891. That commission began by policing shipping rates but grew, over the following decades, into the powerful body that regulated the state's booming oil and gas industry. Foster's tenure set an early tone of professionalism for an agency whose reach would eventually help supply Allied armies with fuel in World War II.
Why it matters
The Texas Railroad Commission became one of the most influential regulatory bodies in America, shaping the national and even global oil market for much of the twentieth century.
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Related people
- · Lafayette Lumpkin Foster
- · James S. Hogg
Themes & tags
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