Oil Boom in Corsicana, Texas
On June 9th 1894, the first oil strike occurred at 1,035 feet deep by a contractor that was hired to find water for the city in Corsicana, Texas. This discovery was made by a company from Kansas called American Well and Prospecting Company, and produced only about two and a half barrels of oil per day. This was not the first oil well drilled in Texas, however, the discovery on South 12th street, led to the exploration and production industry in the great state of Texas.
From the year 1894 to the year 1900, the population in Corsicana grew rapidly to 9,313 citizens. Along with the growth in population came other growth as the town grew to have 12 newspapers, 49 stores, 3 banks, 8 hotels, and much more.
There were more findings later in 1896 that produced 22 barrels a day and by 1897, the field was yielding 65,975 barrels per day of oil from 47 wells. By 1898 there were 287 wells producing in Corsicana.
This Oil Boom created success and abundance for the town of Corsicana. The town built a new courthouse and a new chamber of commerce.
In the year 1923 another deposit of oil was found, “the Powell oil field”, starting another oil drilling boom, and it lured thousands more to their town. By 1953 this town had twenty one millionaires living within their city limits. Corsicana claimed to have the highest per capita income in the entire state of Texas. Furthermore, by 1956 another field was discovered directly to the east and within a few months there were about 500 wells.
The Corsicana field yielded one hundred and twenty five million barrels of oil.