Linne Oil Field

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Linne Oil Field in Wilson County. Now settle in, because this story starts with one man's gamble and ends with a field that just keeps on giving. It starts, as a lot of Texas oil stories do, with somebody from somewhere else.

Maple C. Hughes, a wealthy rice farmer out of Louisiana, came down to Wilson County and drilled into the Austin Chalk formation on property owned by a man named Fritz Mueller. This was 1953.

And when Hughes struck oil, it was the largest find the area had ever seen. You can imagine what that did. Speculators showed up.

Drilling companies came sniffin' around. Wilson County, which had been going about its quiet business, suddenly had everybody and their brother looking for quick wealth. That's what one good strike will do.

Now, on the heels of the Mueller discovery, the L.H. and S.A. Olson Drilling Company out of Midland moved in and leased acreage from a merchant by the name of Oscar W. Linne.

This land had been part of the Old Polley Plantation. And on April 1st, 1955, the company found oil. They named it the Linne Poth A Sand Field.

And here's the thing: that discovery didn't just match the Mueller find. It dwarfed it. By the following year, the company had completed more than thirty wells in that field, all of them yielding high quality oil.

Now, the marker is careful to note that this one came later than most major Texas oil finds. But late doesn't mean small. What followed was the same kind of economic boom that big oil always brings.

The county's population grew. Businessmen flooded in. Additional fields were discovered.

And then, something rarer than the oil itself happened: the impact lasted. From 1967 to 1968, the Linne Field produced another twenty-five wells as the industry kept right on growing. O.W.

Linne Well No. 1 was still producing more than fifty years after it first came in. Millions of barrels, and still countin', still feeding tax revenue into Wilson County. Some wells flash and fade.

This one just settled in and stayed.

What the marker says

The oil discovery in this field in 1955 was the most extensive and significant in the area. It was preceded, however, by several earlier strikes. Maple C. Hughes, a wealthy rice farmer from Louisiana, drilled the Austin Chalk formation on property owned by Fritz Mueller, striking oil in 1953. At the time, it was the largest oil find in the area, and soon speculators and oil drilling companies came to Wilson County in search of quick wealth. On the heels of the Mueller discovery, the L.H.&S.A. Olson Drilling Co. of Midland leased acreage from merchant Oscar W. Linne that had been part of the Old Polley Plantation. The company found oil on April 1, 1955, on what would be named Linne Poth A Sand Field. The discovery dwarfed other finds in the area. By the next year, the company completed over 30 wells in the field that yielded high quality oil. The Linne oil discovery had a profoud impact on the economy of Wilson County. Although dating later than most major oil finds in Texas, this one still led to a similar economic boom for the discovery area. The county's population grew as businessmen flooded in and discovered additional fields. More importantly, the impact was long-lasting. From 1967 to 1968, Linne Field produced another 25 wells as the oil industry continued to grow. Additionally, O.W. Linne Well No. 1 was still producing over 50 years after its initial founding, and the field has supplied millions of barrels of oil over the years, continuing to be an important source of tax revenue for Wilson County. (2006)