Texas Oil Boom

The discovery of oil in Texas created a very large social impact. Men in Texas became very rich; in fact Texas was the richest state in the country! The discovery of oil also made a tremendous impact on education and racial issues. Lastly the oil boom created many jobs outside of the industry. Universities in Texas such as, Texas A&M and Texas University became very wealthy courtesy to the oil boom. The University of Texas acquired 2,000,000 acres of land in 1883. They received this land in a land grant from the Texas Legislature. This land was perceived to be dry, with no value. Although in 1923 oil was discovered on the land. By 2008 the oil fields had produced 4.4 billion dollars. That number is still climbing making The University of Texas extremely wealthy. Divorce rates in Texas also drastically increased because of the oil boom. Many men left their homes for long periods of time to go work in oil fields. Most workers would have to drive 6 hours a day to and from work, so it would be much easier for oil field workers to move away from their families temporarily. This meant that they were away from their families for extensive amounts of time. This caused very much tension between couples and frequently resulted in divorce. The oil boom created many …show more content…
A small town called Wink, Texas did not exist in 1925. Then in 1926 oil was discovered, and by 1927 Winks’ population had climbed to 3,500 people. Wink, Texas was known for its phenomenal high school football team. The team was so outstanding because the school often offered jobs to fathers of good prospects, and their sons just “happened” to be good at football. Another reason Wink’s football team was so outstanding is because oil companies funded the team. This meant that the team had the best of the best. They had the best coaches, the best uniforms, the best practice equipment, and the best stadium. The Wink Football Team finished their season off