DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture January 10, 1901. Something is happening just south of Beaumont, out at the Spindletop Oil Field.
Something big enough that word starts traveling fast — and it finds its way to a man named Frank Trost. Francis John Trost, born June 24, 1868, had come to Port Arthur in 1895 from Kansas City, Missouri, where he'd been involved in real estate. But somewhere along the way, a hobby got hold of him.
Photography. And when he landed in Port Arthur, he opened a studio right here at this very site and turned that hobby into a successful business. Good thing he did.
Because on that January morning, history was about to need a witness with a camera. The Lucas Gusher erupted at Spindletop, and Frank Trost — the photographer of record on that day — got the notification and moved. Unwieldy camera equipment and all, he made it out there and managed to take at least one photograph of that gushing oil before sundown.
Now, photographic methods were still in their infancy, so this wasn't some quick snapshot. That image was created with a glass negative Trost manufactured himself, back in his own studio. And then the world found out what he had.
That photograph appeared in newspapers all over the United States and in some foreign countries. Demand came at him like the gusher itself — Trost was making as many as 250 prints per day and selling them as fast as they came off the line. That one moment, captured before sundown on one January day, went everywhere.
But Frank Trost wasn't only the man who photographed a momentous moment in Texas history. He was also a man who planted himself deep in his adopted hometown. He served Port Arthur as a city alderman, as a city commissioner, and as fire chief.
The man had range. Frank Trost died at home in 1944 — August 4th — and is buried in a local cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Katherine, and two daughters, who carried on his work at the Trost Studio.
The gusher made headlines. Frank Trost made the photographs. And his family made sure the studio kept going.
That's a legacy that didn't dry up.
What the marker says
Francis John (Frank) Trost (June 24, 1868 - August 4, 1944) Frank Trost, the photographer of record on the day the Lucas Gusher erupted in the Spindletop Oil Field, came to Port Arthur in 1895 from Kansas City, Missouri, where he had been involved in real estate. He opened a photography studio at this site and turned his hobby into a successful business. On January 10, 1901, Trost was notified of the events at Spindletop, just south of Beaumont. With his unwieldy camera equipment in tow, he managed to take at least one photograph of the gushing oil before sundown. Photographic methods were still in their infancy, so the image was created with a glass negative Trost manufactured in his studio. The photo appeared in newspapers all over the United States and in some foreign countries. It was in such demand that Trost made as many as 250 prints per day and sold them as quickly as they were printed. Aside from his significance as a recorder of this momentous moment in Texas history, Frank Frost also served his adopted hometown as a city alderman, city commissioner and fire chief. Trost died at home in 1944 and is buried in a local cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Katherine, and two daughters who continued his work at the Trost Studio. (2002)