W. H. Abrams Well No. 1
West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1920, Texas & Pacific Railway official William H. Abrams (1843-1926) of Dallas owned this old plantation land, then considered fit only for pasture. He leased mineral rights to the Texas Company (now Texaco, Inc.), whose drilling reached a climax on July 20, 1920. At 7:45 that evening a massive jet of oil and gas erupted from a 2,754-foot depth, heralding a major discovery now known as West Columbia Field. W. H. Abrams No. 1 was a gusher. Three pipe lines were laid at once to draw the oil to earthen tanks, filled by powerful steam pumps with over 20,000 barrels daily. For Abrams, this wildcat well was a second bonus, as land he owned in Mitchell County produced the first oil in the Permian Basin in June 1920. Locally, land that sold for 10 cents an acre in 1840 and $5 an acre in 1888 now brought $96,000 an acre for mineral rights, irrespective of surface values. Yet the boom days were hazardous. Brazoria County oldtimers suffered along with oilfield workers, all living precariously and dangerously until the flow of oil money led to better schools, roads and general social conditions. Half a century later, the socio-economic significance of the West Columbia discovery could be acknowledged as a nationwide contribution. (1977)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On July 20, 1920, drilling on old plantation land leased from railway official William H. Abrams struck a massive gusher, blasting oil and gas from a depth of 2,754 feet and opening the West Columbia Field. Overnight, pasture once sold for pennies an acre commanded up to $96,000 an acre in mineral rights. The boom brought danger and hardship before its wealth financed better schools, roads, and living conditions across Brazoria County.
Why it matters
The strike was part of the early-twentieth-century oil rush that transformed Texas from an agricultural state into an industrial power and reshaped the American economy.
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Related people
- · William H. Abrams
Related events
- · West Columbia oil discovery
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Born into slavery in the late 1820s and brought to Brazoria County from Virginia before the Civil War, Charlie Brown could not read or write yet built one of the largest fortunes in Texas. Between 1889 and 1910 he owned some 3,000 acres, including much of West Columbia, and ran grist, sugar, and saw mills and the county's first cotton gin. He donated land for churches and for the first school serving African American children in West Columbia, later named in his honor, and by his death in 1920 was called the wealthiest African American in the state.
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