Exploring Our Industrial Heritage: Texas Oil (Part I)
Our Trip to Texas
What do you think of when you think of Texas? Livestock? Cowboys? Oil rigs? Desert towns? Big cities? Armadillos?
My wife Kelly and I visited Texas recently as we explored our industrial heritage, and you know what we found in Texas? Everything! We landed in Dallas, drove eight hours to the town of Marfa, then drove to Big Bend National Park and spent five days there, then drove 4 hours to Midland and spent some time exploring it, and finally ended our trip spending a few days in Dallas.
Texas is Art
While the focus of this article is on the industrial backbone of the world: petroleum, I would be remiss to ignore Texas’ geological and cultural diversity. Starting with Marfa.
Marfa is an eclectic art town. Wait? Art in Texas? Yes art! This tiny town sits on the high plains of the Chihuahua desert. It is the last place you would expect a thriving art community. But thanks to a relocated artist from NYC 50 years ago… boom! Art in Marfa! Nowadays in Marfa, there are art displays in the many art galleries, in the quaint stores and even the hotels and restaurants feature the art of local artists. There are even large modern art exhibits outdoors in the open fields. The Marfa townspeople themselves exude this fun and artsy vibe.
While in Marfa, Kelly and I stayed at Hotel Paisano. Hotel Paisano is a historic downtown hotel most noted for hosting James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson during the film production of the blockbuster movie Giant. Kelly and I stayed in the James Dean room. It was very cool!
Marfa is a cool town for cool people. Are you cool enough for a Marfa visit?
Texas is Nature and Natural History
Within a short drive of Marfa lies Big Bend National Park. The geological, topographical, historical and biological diversity exhibited within BBNP is impressive. From deserts to mountains, from javelinas to bighorn sheep, from road runners to peregrine falcons, from canyon sunrises to dark sky nights and from healing hot springs to enormous dinosaur fossils, Big Bend has it all!
We camped here for five nights and experienced its many layers of beauty and wonder. BBNP is difficult to describe in words and pictures can’t do it justice. To understand it, you really need to simply visit and experience it for yourself. Believe me, if you enjoy exploring our national parks, you will not be disappointed by Big Bend National Park.
Texas is Modern
Dallas is nice. The sections that we visited were clean and modern. The buildings and highways are well designed. Open space is available and well maintained. Cultural activities are readily available throughout the city. Residential areas are nicely maintained and appropriately distanced from business and industrial centers.
Many older cities in the United States remain constrained by century old logistics. Namely narrow horse and buggy roads and carriage house living. Zoning in these older cities is often a mishmash of old city design mixed with modern day requirements. Modernizing older cities is cost prohibitive too. As we know, Boston modernized at a cost of $8B. The B is for billions! But Dallas never confined itself to an outdated infrastructure and today it is easy for visitors like us to experience what the modern city of Dallas has to offer its residents!
Texas is a Cornerstone of Our Industrial Heritage
Driving from BBNP to Midland Texas offers views of flat desert ranches. One after another. Not much more. However, as you approach the Midland Basin, you will notice one, not so subtle difference. Oil rigs. While the topography remains the same, the closer you get to Midland, the more oil rigs you see. What this Midland landscape lacks in beauty is made up for with structures and equipment that reflect our industrial heritage.
Oil rigs, storage tanks and refineries speckle the Midland landscape outside of the city and offices held by all types of oil businesses occupy the buildings within the city limits. The Permian Basin is the highest producing oil field in the United States, and it covers more than 86,000 square miles. The Permian Basin comprises several component basins, including the Midland Basin which is the largest and most productive one in Texas. Because of this fact, Midland is indeed the epicenter of the US oil industry.
Exploring the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum
The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum is just off Route 20 in Midland Texas. If you ever find yourself in the area, I recommend visiting this museum. Plan on spending about 2-hours touring the indoor exhibits and outside displays. The amount of knowledge that my wife Kelly and I gained about oil refining and the entire petroleum industry was well worth our time. Petroleum is without doubt a very interesting industry.
The museum has many displays that showcase the deep heritage of our petroleum industry. Beginning with the fossil fuel’s prehistoric formation, through oil drilling, refining and delivery. The museum displays earth core samples that show the varying layers of our planet’s bedrock layers that exist over 10,000 feet below the surface. Actual hardware and equipment are displayed inside the building and outside on the grounds of the museum yard. The museum displays are interactive and provide detailed descriptions of the refining process from start to finish. Another display shows some of the petroleum-based products that are consumed daily by our modern society. And finally, graphic displays provide the history of the major US oil companies. it outlines how these companies formed, transformed, developed and grew as worldwide oil demand exploded throughout the 20th century.
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