Water Rails & Oil - Historic Mid & South Jefferson County

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Above: Gulf Refinery, August 1929.
Coke stills used in processing
crude oil are visible.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF THE GULF COAST,
PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS.
Left: The Texas Company. Holmes-
Manley stills in the foreground, circa
1930s. Looking eastward with Texas
Company reservoir in the distance
with a view of 25th street.
COURTESY OF THE PORT ARTHUR PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTION.
Guffey Company’s docks on February 17, 1902.
Strombus’ engines also used oil from Spindletop
to spin its own propeller screws. At first, the area
shipped oil to refineries located elsewhere; soon,
processing of petroleum for gasoline, lubricants,
and other usages joined the area’s oil boom.
The Texas Company constructed a refinery
and eighty-acre tank farm south of Nederland;
the city of Port Arthur annexed the area in 1959.
The Gulf Oil Company completed two
refineries, each capable of processing 62,000
barrels daily. For storage they maintained tanks
capable of holding 55,000 barrels each. Guffey
and The Port Arthur Channel and Dock
Company operated loading docks. Within a
short time, Guffey, The Texas Company, and
Chapter III ✦ 25