Commemorating First Oil Well in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, (sculpture).

Commemorating First Oil Well in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, (sculpture).

Armstrong, Amos Lee, sculptor.

Louisiana Monument Company, fabricator.

Commemorating First Oil Well in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, (sculpture).

Dedicated Oct. 12, 1955.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: aluminum; Base: granite.

Base: approx. 9 1/2 x 10 x 10 ft.

(South side of base, second step, incised lettering:) ERECTED BY/LOUISIANA MONUMENT CO./SHREVEPORT, LA. (South side of base, incised lettering:) THIS MONUMENT DEDICATED OCTOBER 12, 1955 A.D./IN OBSERVANCE OF/GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 1905-1955/DISCOVERY OF OIL IN CADDO PARISH/BY/OIL AND GAS COMMITTEE OF SHREVEPORT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/JOHN J. FROMMER GEN. CHAIRMAN/LON ABNEY SUB CHAIRMAN/AND/OIL INDUSTRY INFORMATION COMMITTEE/VICTOR J. MARTZELL GEN CHAIRMAN (West side of base, incised lettering:) THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED AS A TRIBUTE TO THE/ORIGINAL OIL AND GAS OPERATORS IN THIS AREA AND TO/THE MEN WHO SO ABLY CONTRIBUTED, BY THEIR EFFORTS AND/TALENTS, THROUGHOUT THE PAST FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS.

(East side of base, incised lettering:) GAS WAS FIRST DISCOVERED IN 1870/IN A WATER WELL DRILLED FOR ICE PLANT LOCATED BETWEEN/MARKET AND EDWARDS STREETS IN SHREVEPORT. FIRST LEASING/ACTIVITY FOR OIL WAS BEGUN IN 1904 BY JUDGE S. C. FULLILOVE,/D.C. RICHARDSON AND I.G. HENDRICK. THE TEXAS COMPANY,/BEGAN EXPLORATION IN CADDO IN FEBRUARY 1905 AND IS/CREDITED WITH THE FIRST OIL WELLS. THE FIRST MARINE/OIL WELL IN THE UNITED STATES WAS COMPLETED IN CADDO/LAKE BY THE GULF REFINING COMPANY IN MAY, 1911. THE/EARLIEST "MANUFACTURED PLANT" IN CADDO PARISH WAS/LOCATED AT GAS CENTER NEAR SHREVEPORT, WHERE THE/PURIFIED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS COMPANY OF LOUISIANA LTD./BEGAN A PATENTED PROCESS OF TREATING GASOLINE AND/KEROSENE. THIS COMPANY DEVELOPED INTO THE LOUISIANA/OIL REFINING COMPANY, INC. IN OCTOBER, 1913. EARLIEST OIL/PIPE LINE IN THIS AREA WAS COMPLETED BY STANDARD OIL/COMPANY OF LOUISIANA TO ITS BATON ROUGE REFINERY IN 1910. (North side of base, incised lettering:) COMMEMORATING/FIRST OIL WELL/IN/CADDO PARISH, LA./CADDO LAKE OIL AND PIPELINE COMPANY NO. 1 OFFENHAUSER/LOCATED 694 FT. SOUTH AND 629 FT. WEST FROM CENTER OF/SEC 1 TWP 20N RNG 16W. NEAR OIL CITY COMPLETED MARCH/28, 1905 AT TOTAL DEPTH 1556 FT. DRILLED BY SAVAGE BROS./AND MORRICAL. DRILLERS JACK GARRETT AND WALTER D. GEORGE. unsigned

Sculpture is a miniature oil well, mounted upon a base with three graduated steps around the bottom. A time capsule is set in the foundation on the north side of the base.

Architecture -- Machine -- Oil Rig

Occupation -- Industry -- Oil

Outdoor Sculpture -- Louisiana -- Shreveport

Louisiana State Fairgrounds, Hudson Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana

The sculpture commemorates the golden anniversary of the discovery of oil in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, 1905-1955, and was erected by the Oil and Gas Committee of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce as a tribute to the original oil and gas operators. Inscription on time capsule by the north side of the monument's base reads: DEPOSITED HERE ARE RECORDS/OIL AND GAS DISCOVERY IN/CADDO PARISH--TO BE OPENED/ON MARCH 28, 2005. For related information see Shreveport Magazine (Nov. 1955).

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Louisiana survey, 1995.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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