Spindletop Museum to celebrate 122nd Anniversary

The Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum has been booming for 122 years and it’s no wonder the Southeast Texas community can’t stop gushing over it.

The year was 1901 when the Hamill Brothers brought in the first gusher of oil that lasted nine days. Known as the Lucas Gusher, this feat is celebrated every year on the second Saturday of January at Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum. This year, on Jan. 14 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., the entire Southeast Texas community and beyond are invited to come enjoy food, games, performances and more.
The annual Boomtown celebration comes just as Lamar University prepares to celebrate its centennial year.

“This is a major history event –– huge –– and everyone should know about it,” said Mattie Jones who works as a store clerk in the museum’s antique gift shop. “We’re excited to have guests from the community come back and join us in this celebration. For 122 years, the museum has been going strong and this is a celebration that we love and will continue to have for years to come.”

Guests are encouraged to bring the entire family out for the day to enjoy the musical entertainment of Barbershop Quartet as well as re-enactments of the drillers on the oil field and people in town by the Big Thicket Outlaws. 

Teatime with the Ladies Temperance Union will transport visitors back to 1901. Also, the Beaumont Amateur Radio Club will showcase their hobby. The Lucas Gusher re-enactments will take place at 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Local business Boss Burger will be selling food in the parking lot of the museum.

All visitors wearing a 1901-era costume will receive free admission into the museum. Admission for the anniversary event is $5 for adults ages 13-59; $2 for seniors over the age of 59; and $3 for kids 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.