Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum is looking for oil derricks around Southeast Texas and is asking for the public to help in a fun way. If you see a derrick on a sign, poster, building, etc., take a picture and send it to gladyscity@lamar.edu or post it on social media with the hashtag #spindletopderrick. Make sure to put the location or address of the find. No repeat finds! If a person already sent in a derrick at a particular place, no one else can use that derrick as their own. All people who send in a picture with the location will have their names entered in a monthly drawing. The winner of the drawing will receive a Spindletop Mug and one free admission to the museum when picking up the mug.

“We want the community to celebrate the accomplishment of finding oil and putting Southeast Texas on the map,” said Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Director Troy Gray. “This fun hunting activity will help the museum connect to the businesses and organizations that use the derrick and Spindletop in their logo or signage.”

Derricks are a great symbol of the Lucas Gusher of 1901. Derricks are named after a famous early 17th century hangman in England. The derricks support the tackle for boring, to help raise and lower the drilling tools in the well and to insert and remove the well casing or pipe. At Spindletop, derricks were so close together that at one point, a person could walk across the derrick floors without touching the ground. Today, it is easy to find derricks on store signs and logos across Southeast Texas.

Anyone with questions can contact the museum at 409-880-1750 or the director at troy.gray@lamar.edu.

The cost of museum admission is $5 for adults; $3 for senior citizens; and $2 for children, ages 6-12. The Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum is located on the corner of Jimmy Simmons Boulevard and Cardinal Drive on the Lamar University campus. For more information, please call 409-880-1750 or visit www.spindletop.org.