Lou Della Crim Home
Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This bungalow style residence was constructed in 1920 for Lou Della (Thompson) Crim (b. 1868), on the former site of the Hearne Hotel. The farm she owned at Laird Hill (4 mi. S) was part of an oil exploration project headed by her son Malcolm, later the first Kilgore mayor, and local financier Ed Bateman. Her property gained national attention on Dec. 28, 1930, when the Bateman-Crim Wildcat Well No. 1, the discovery well for this area of the significant East Texas oil field, blew in there. Area Rangers, including the celebrated Capt. M. T. (Lone Wolf) Gonzaullas, were housed here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1920 on the former site of the Hearne Hotel, this bungalow was home to Lou Della Crim, whose farm south at Laird Hill became the stage for history. On December 28, 1930, the Bateman-Crim Wildcat Well No. 1 blew in on her land — the discovery well for this part of the colossal East Texas oil field. As the boom convulsed Kilgore, this house even quartered the Texas Rangers, including the legendary Capt. M. T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, sent to keep order.
Why it matters
The Crim discovery well helped open the East Texas field, the largest in the lower forty-eight, whose flood of oil reshaped the state's economy and the nation's energy landscape in the Depression years.
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Related people
- · Lou Della Crim
- · Malcolm Crim
- · Ed Bateman
- · M. T. Gonzaullas
Related events
- · Discovery of the East Texas Oil Field
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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