Prairie Oil and Gas Company Housing

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Somewhere in Eastland County, Texas, the ground started whispering in 1917. Not in any poetic way, mind you.

It was whispering oil. And for five years, from 1917 all the way to 1922, that whisper turned into a roar loud enough to reshape an entire town. The Eastland County oil boom didn't just fill pockets.

It filled city blocks. Substantial public structures, residential buildings, whole neighborhoods rising up out of what had been, well, considerably less. Prairie Oil and Gas Company was out there in the thick of it, doing oil exploration in the county, and by 1919 they'd made enough progress to start thinkin' about their people.

So they erected housing right here in this area, purpose-built for their company officials. Now we're not talkin' about rough camp quarters. These were real structures, two stories, solid, the kind of building that says we plan on being here a while.

The man who lived in this particular two-story house was W.I. Clark, the Eastland Superintendent. And his place wasn't unique exactly, it was typical of two other company houses sitting directly north of this residence.

Three houses total, planted in a row by Prairie Oil and Gas. One of those other two still stands today, which is its own quiet kind of stubbornness. Then the corporate world did what it does.

Sinclair Oil Company came along and purchased the operation in 1932. Ran it for a few years, and then in 1935, sold these houses off to individuals. Just like that, company property became somebody's home.

The boom had long quieted by then, but these houses kept standin', keepin' their own counsel about the years when Eastland County shook with possibility.

What the marker says

The Eastland County oil boom, 1917-1922, prompted construction of many of Eastland's substantial public and residential structures. Prairie Oil and Gas Company began oil exploration in the county, and in 1919 erected housing in this area for their company officials. W.I. Clark, the Eastland Superintendent, occupied this two-story structure, which was typical of 2 other company houses located directly north of this residence, one of which still stands. Sinclair Oil Co. purchased the operation in 1932 and in 1935 sold these houses to individuals. (1983)