Upshur County Discovery Well
Union Grove, Upshur County, Texas
Marker Inscription
J. D. Richardson No. 1. Completed May 6, 1931; first of 2,000 county wells that produced over 225,000 barrels of oil. Drilled by Mudge Oil Co.; bought by General American Oil Co., (1952). Total depth of well: 3,754 ft.; initial daily production: 35,000 barrels of oil and 10,000,000 cu. ft. of gas. Contractor was Clark and Cowden Drilling Co. Drilling supervisor: T. P. Kirk; Dave McCullough and R. D. Kirk, drillers. Crew: Jess Wright, John Bloomfield, W. B. Stroheim, Grady Williams, R. E. Powers, C. O. Kirk, W. D. Emerson, Tommie Thompson. Is in extension of East Texas oil field, one of world's largest.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On May 6, 1931, the J. D. Richardson No. 1 came in as the first of some 2,000 wells that would riddle Upshur County, part of the vast East Texas oil field — one of the largest ever discovered. Drilled to 3,754 feet by the Mudge Oil Co., it roared to life at 35,000 barrels a day, a gusher that helped define the Depression-era boom transforming this rural corner of Texas. The marker even preserves the names of the drillers and crew who brought it in.
Why it matters
The East Texas field reshaped the American energy economy and the nation's oil politics in the 1930s, and this discovery well marks where that transformation reached Upshur County.
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Related events
- · East Texas oil boom
Themes & tags
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