Old Welding Shop of H. C. Nicol
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1892-1963) Expert with acetylene torch, Nicol is remembered as first welder operating in the Navarro County oil fields, which opened 1894. He began work about 1912, at a time when he had to mix own welding chemicals. In addition he pioneered welding of cast iron and aluminum in this area. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Navarro County oil fields opened in 1894, the young petroleum industry needed craftsmen who could join and repair metal in the field. H. C. Nicol answered that call around 1912, remembered as the first welder to work the county's oil patch in an era when a tradesman still had to mix his own welding chemicals by hand. He pushed the craft further, pioneering the welding of cast iron and aluminum in the area.
Why it matters
Corsicana sat at the birth of the Texas oil boom, and skilled hands like Nicol's turned raw strikes into a working industry — the unglamorous expertise that made America's petroleum age possible.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · H. C. Nicol
Related events
- · Opening of the Navarro County oil fields, 1894
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Early Texas Natural Gas Pipelines
Corsicana, TX
In 1902 the first public use of natural gas in Texas began on this Corsicana street, piping fuel to nearby homes and businesses. Navarro County became a cradle of the industry — the first gas meters appeared at Chatfield in 1905, and gas was first used to pump oil wells here in 1906. From these modest lines grew a network that within a generation spanned the state and, by the 1920s, launched the nation's first interstate natural gas pipelines.
American Well & Prospecting Company
Corsicana, TX
Founded in Kansas in 1890 by Horace Greeley Johnston and Charles Rittersbacher, this firm began as a water-well drilling business before the partners moved to Corsicana. In 1894, while drilling for water on South 12th Street, they struck crude oil—the accidental discovery of the Corsicana oil field. The company went on to manufacture rotary drilling equipment, converted to munitions work in World War II, and finally closed under Bethlehem Steel in 1959.
Joseph S. Cullinan, Pioneer in Texas Oil
Corsicana, TX
Joseph S. Cullinan learned the oil business the hard way, starting at fourteen as a laborer in the Pennsylvania fields. Drawn to Texas after the 1894 Corsicana discovery, he became a driving force in the young state's petroleum industry, organizing companies—including the enterprise that became Texaco—and integrating exploration, production, refining, and marketing. He also pressed for early conservation and anti-waste legislation as the industry exploded.
The Birthplace of the Petroleum Industry
Corsicana, TX
In 1894 a crew drilling a water well for the city of Corsicana struck something unexpected at 1,035 feet: oil, in commercial quantities. It was the first such strike in the entire mid-continent region west of the Mississippi. What began as an accident became the seed of a Texas oil boom that would remake the state's economy.