It was 119 years ago today the Spindletop Gusher erupted in Beaumont. The gusher blew
for nine days at a rate of 100,000 barrels a day. Gulf Oil and Texaco, now part of Chevron
Corporation, were formed. Spindletop was the largest gusher in the world and catapulted
Beaumont into an oil-fueled boomtown. Beaumont’s population of 10,000 tripled in three
months.