I did a quick stop and took the following pictures of the historical marker of the first oil well in Hidalgo County. The well that the marker refers to was drilled on what used to be originally Porcion 40 given to Jose Antonio Castaneda, but when oil was discovered in 1934 it was on land that now belonged to Ed W. (Captain) Sullivan. The well was named after the driller of the well Otto Woods.
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| John M. Lawrence No. 1 oil well was brought in September 18, 1934, near this site by veteran driller Otto C. Woods. The well flowed 1,000 or more barrels a day. At first, the oil formed a lake beside the well. County has produced 20 million barrels of oil. (1968) |
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| Cotton field behind marker, where location of well must have been. |
Location of Marker on Google Maps:
View Hidalgo County Historical Markers in a larger map
Note: Permission is granted to reuse these images as long as a link back to this website is provided.
Source: http://www.cemeteries-of-tx.com/Etx/Hidalgo/Cemetery/benavides.htm
Otto woods is my great great grandfather
That is awesome. Where is your family from?