DUANE
Duane's take
Now here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Big Inch Pipeline — and friend, this one's worth pulling over for. Before the United States ever stepped foot into World War II, somebody had already worked out a system that kept the whole East Coast running. Ninety-five percent of the crude oil delivered to East Coast refineries moved by tanker ship.
And ninety percent of that oil? It came straight out of Texas oil fields. Texas, feeding a nation.
Quietly, steadily — until December 1941, when the bombing of Pearl Harbor changed everything. Beginning in February of 1942, German submarines started hunting those tankers. Ships bound from the Gulf of Mexico to the East Coast were being sunk.
Not one or two — many. The sea route that had carried Texas oil across to the refineries was now a killing ground. And if the oil stopped moving, the war effort stopped with it.
Now, somebody had to come up with something. That somebody was Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. He developed a plan — a plan for a massive overland oil pipeline.
The kind of thing that had never been attempted at that scale in history. Under the auspices of War Emergency Pipelines, Inc., construction began on what would become the largest pipeline ever built up to that time. They called it the Big Inch.
And the name fit. Twenty-four inches in diameter — stretching from right here in Longview, Texas, all the way to Norris City, Illinois, and on to refineries in the East. One thousand, four hundred and seventy-six miles of steel pipe laid across the American landscape while the world was on fire.
At the height of wartime service, over three hundred thousand barrels of oil moved through that line every single day. Every. Single.
Day. Safe from submarines. Safe from the open sea.
The Big Inch's impact on the war effort, the marker tells us, was tremendous — enabling the safe and timely transport of oil products vital to the Allies. And when the war finally ended, the Big Inch didn't quit. It was converted to a natural gas pipeline and kept right on workin'.
Laid in secret necessity, measured in lives and barrels and miles — the Big Inch ran quiet beneath the American heartland while history raged above it. That's the kind of story the land doesn't always announce. Sometimes you need a marker to point it out.
What the marker says
Before the United States entry into World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, ninety-five percent of the crude oil delivered to East Coast refineries was transported by tanker ships. Ninety percent of that oil originated from Texas oil fields. Beginning in february 1942, many U.S. oil tankers en route from the Gulf of Mexico to the East Coast were sunk by German submarines. Recognizing the need to transport oil under safer circumstances, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes developed a plan for massive overland oil pipeline. Under the auspices of the War Emergency Pipelines, Inc., construction began on the largest pipeline in history up to that time. Measuring twenty-four inches in diameter, the Big Inch pipeline extended from Longview to Norris City, Illinois, and eventually to refineries in the East. The Big Inch pipeline's impact on the war effort was tremendous, enabling the safe and timely transport of oil products vital to the Allies. During the height of wartime service, over 300,000 barrels of oil were delivered each day over the 1,476-mile line. When the war ended the Big Inch continued in service after conversion to a natural gas pipeline.