General Interest
Spindletop

Spindletop, near Beaumont, Texas, is a hill formed by a giant underground dome of salt that slowly made its way to the surface. The land feature became famous after oil was reached there in 1901. The surrounding area is not the solid material that oil drillers are used to; it is pure sand. The sand makes it difficult to drill, and when they found oil, the sand usually caved in on the hole. Driller Curt Hamill came up with the idea that they could put mud into the hole to keep the sand from being so soft. After the first try, the technique became the standard for preventing drilled holes from caving in. Spindletop became productive after oil drillers used the method and produced nearly 100,000 barrels per day when the normal output was only five. That site was the beginning of several oil giants, including Gulf Oil, Amoco, and Humble Oil Company (later Exxon).

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