Snavely #1

On April 7, 1931 this wildcat well drilled by Selby Oil and Gas Co. of Tulsa, OK. came-in at 1000 barrels an hour. Located in the Sabine River bottom a mile south of town, it connected Gladewater to the vast East Texas Oil Field stretching from Longview's Lathrop Well 7 miles north, to Kilgore's Crim Well 14 miles south. Royalty owners were the Snavely family of Martinsville, IL. headed by Judge Herschel Snavely, nine relatives came to watch the drilling. L.C. Snavely acquired interest in this land when several Illinois investors underwrote the sawmill, lumber operation of James Moore who in 1906 bought 4200 acres for $20,000 and moved his enterprise to Gladewater by train. Moore's mill was destroyed in 1913 by a boiler explosion. In 1914 he surveyed and divided the land into equal sections. Investors drew lots to determine their parcels. Oil was discovered under the entire 4200-acre tract. Texaco, Inc. operated the well from 1938 until its shut-down on November 30, 1957. Texaco closed its local office in 1987 after 54 years in Gladewater, and donated to the city this pumping unit from the Texaco-Snavely "A" Lease #1. The original derrick was wooden.

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