Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum is an oil industry museum in Beaumont that displays fifteen reconstructed buildings from the 1900s, including a saloon, post office, general store, and livery stable filled with period objects. The buildings are accurate recreations that show how people lived and worked during the early days of oil extraction.

The museum commemorates the discovery of the Lucas Gusher in 1901, when an oil well at Spindletop Hill suddenly erupted with tremendous force. This discovery sparked the rapid growth of the region and turned it into a center of early American oil production.

The site honors the memory of the Texas oil boom through displays of artifacts, photographs, and objects that show how the region changed almost overnight. You can see how the discovery brought wealth and opportunity to what was once a quiet area.

You can watch demonstrations of early oil extraction techniques at a working replica derrick and join educational programs about petroleum history. Plan to spend one to two hours exploring the grounds and learning about how oil was found and processed in those early days.

The museum recreates the sight and sound of the original gusher using water-based effects while telling historical stories about the event. This immersive experience helps you understand why this moment changed the region's future forever.

Location: Beaumont

Inception: 1976

Website: http://spindletop.org

GPS coordinates: 30.03261,-94.07911

Latest update: December 11, 2025 11:04