DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Orangefield, out here in Orange County. Now, every good Texas story starts with somebody pokin' a hole in the ground and hopin' for a miracle. Orangefield's story is no different — except the first hole didn't cooperate.
A shallow well drilled in 1903 came up dry as a deacon's humor. No oil. Just dirt and disappointment.
But folks in this part of Texas are persistent. After successful deeper drilling on other salt domes, Rio Bravo Oil Company — a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad — came back swinging. In 1913, they drilled the No. 1 Bland Well, and when that thing opened up, they called it the Wonder Well.
And brother, the name fit. It produced a hundred and fifty barrels per day, pulling oil from between 3,209 and 3,227 feet down — then the deepest well in all of Texas. Let that sink in.
The deepest in the whole state. Then 1921 rolled around, and Humble Oil's Chesson No. 5 changed everything. Sitting on a hill on the west side of Cow Bayou, near the old bridge, that well came roaring in at fifteen thousand barrels daily.
Fifteen thousand. Its success spurred wildcatting across the area and led directly to the discovery of the Orange Oil Field. The earth had been hiding something big, and now everyone knew it.
Of course, oil fields don't build themselves, and neither do the roads to reach them. The marshland and flooding from Cow Bayou were real obstacles. So Orange County built a six-mile plank road just to get heavy oil company equipment through.
Eight buses hauled workers out to Orange Field every day. The place boomed alongside the city of Orange — stores, hotels, rooming houses, cafes, and two theaters all sprang up like wildflowers after a spring rain. And here's a detail the marker offers that stops you in your tracks.
A Japanese native named Kichimatsu Kishi established an agricultural colony near the oil field. And Japanese investors also headed the Orange Petroleum Company, which in 1922 recorded the world's deepest rotary-drilled well — 5,589 feet down. The world's deepest.
Not just Texas. The world. The Orangefield Post Office opened that same year, 1922, as if the town were officially declaring: we are here, and we intend to stay.
But Orangefield's boom years carried a storm inside them. In July of 1923, a fire spread through the business district and caused an estimated seventy-five thousand dollars in damages. The marker notes that this may have marked the turning point in the town's prosperity.
That word — may — does a lot of quiet work. Because by 1925, most of the drilling crews were gone. By 1927, only one section crew remained.
And the land itself seemed to be in on it. A 1926 tornado hit the area. Then a 1927 fire razed the schoolhouse.
For a community, losing your school is about as close to losing your future as it gets. Demand for oil and gas after World War II brought a surge in drilling activity — hope rekindling in the old fields. In 1963, the United States Congress agreed to channel the first 7.7 miles of Cow Bayou, finally addressing the flooding problems that had plagued the area since the earliest days of the boom.
Progress, measured in miles of channeled bayou. But Cow Bayou and the Gulf Coast have long memories. Hurricane Audrey in 1957, Hurricane Rita in 2005, Hurricane Ike in 2008 — each one destroyed oil derricks standing along that bayou.
Nature collecting what it figures is owed. Today, Orangefield centers itself around the Orangefield Independent School District, churches, businesses, and homes. The Wonder Well is gone.
The fifteen-thousand-barrel days are history. What remains is a community — built on boom, tested by fire and wind and flood, and still standing on the west bank of Cow Bayou.
What the marker says
THIS COMMUNITY HAS ITS ORIGINS IN THE FIRST WELL DRILLED IN THE ORANGE OIL FIELD. A SHALLOW WELL DRILLED IN 1903 YIELDED NO OIL. AFTER SUCCESSFUL DEEPER DRILLING ON OTHER SALT DOMES, RIO BRAVO OIL CO., A SUBSIDIARY OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD, DRILLED THE NO. 1 BLAND WELL IN 1913. THIS "WONDER WELL" PRODUCED 150 BARRELS PER DAY FROM 3,209 TO 3,227 FEET, THEN THE DEEPEST WELL IN TEXAS. IN 1921, HUMBLE OIL'S CHESSON NO. 5, ON A HILL ON THE WEST SIDE OF COW BAYOU NEAR THE OLD BRIDGE, PRODUCED 15,000 BARRELS DAILY. ITS SUCCESS SPURRED WILDCATTING AND LED TO DISCOVERY OF THE ORANGE OIL FIELD. TO OVERCOME MARSHLAND AND COW BAYOU FLOODING, ORANGE COUNTY BUILT A SIX-MILE PLANK ROAD TO ACCOMMODATE HEAVY OIL COMPANY EQUIPMENT. EIGHT BUSES HAULED WORKERS TO ORANGE FIELD, WHICH WITH ORANGE EXPERIENCED A POPULATION BOOM. BUSINESSES SPRANG UP, INCLUDING STORES, HOTELS, ROOMING HOUSES, CAFES AND TWO THEATERS. JAPANESE NATIVE KICHIMATSU KISHI ESTABLISHED AN AGRICULTURAL COLONY NEAR THE OIL FIELD. JAPANESE INVESTORS ALSO HEADED THE ORANGE PETROLEUM COMPANY, WHICH RECORDED THE WORLD'S DEEPEST ROTARY-DRILLED WELL AT 5,589 FEET IN 1922. THE ORANGEFIELD POST OFFICE OPENED IN 1922. A JULY 1923 FIRE SPREAD THROUGH THE BUSINESS DISTRICT, CAUSING AN ESTIMATED $75,000 IN DAMAGES. THIS MAY HAVE MARKED THE TURNING POINT IN THE TOWN'S PROSPERITY. BY 1925, MOST OF THE DRILLING CREWS WERE GONE, AND ONLY ONE SECTION CREW REMAINED IN 1927. A 1926 TORNADO AND 1927 FIRE WHICH RAZED THE SCHOOLHOUSE WERE ADDITIONAL SETBACKS. DEMAND FOR OIL AND GAS AFTER WORLD WAR II LED TO A SURGE IN DRILLING ACTIVITY. IN 1963 THE U.S. CONGRESS AGREED TO CHANNEL THE FIRST 7.7 MILES OF COW BAYOU TO SOLVE FLOODING PROBLEMS. HURRICANES AUDREY (1957), RITA (2005) AND IKE (2008) DESTROYED OIL DERRICKS ALONG COW BAYOU. TODAY THE COMMUNITY IS CENTERED AROUND THE ORANGEFIELD INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, CHURCHES, BUSINESSES AND HOMES.