{"nrhp_refnum":"77001461","name":"Oil Springs Oil Field Discovery Well","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"4 mi. SE of Woden","address_restricted":false,"city":"Woden","county":"Nacogdoches County","state":"TX","lat":31.472547555000062,"lon":-94.46758947199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Engineering","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-twentieth-acre site off Farm Road 226, four miles southeast of Woden in Nacogdoches County, Texas, marking the 1866 oil well drilled by Lyne T. Barret at Oil Springs. It is owned by the City of Nacogdoches and lies within a small park.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site is where the first producing oil well in Texas was drilled in 1866. Oil Springs is also credited with the state's first oil boom town, first steel oil storage tanks and first oil pipeline. These developments are presented as pioneering steps in the Texas petroleum industry.","narrative":"Off Farm Road 226, about four miles southeast of Woden, a small site in Nacogdoches County marks the spot where Lyne T. Barret drilled a well in 1866. Using an eight-foot auger powered by a steam engine, his Melrose Petroleum Company struck a six-inch oil vein at 106 feet on September 12, 1866. The well produced about ten barrels a day of a lubricating-grade oil nicknamed skunk oil for its odor. Barret could not raise enough financing to continue, and the field lay dormant for nearly twenty years. A new boom began in 1887, bringing dozens of wells, the town of Oil City, an early pipeline and a steel storage tank. Production fell around 1900 as Spindletop and other fields drew workers away. The nominated area covers only the Barret well site. Only a short length of well casing survives, and a park leased by the city holds two old storage tanks and oilfield artifacts. The form describes the site as deteriorating from lack of maintenance.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1866)","architect_builder":"L.T. Barret","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied and in good condition on the form, though the narrative says the site is deteriorating from lack of maintenance. Only a one-foot, eight-inch-diameter casing remains of the original well, and two old storage tanks stand in the park.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.385392-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/9730/40973080/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001461.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973080","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000350"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/nacogdoches-county/oil-springs-oil-field-discovery-well-77001461/"}