Welcome to the Pistol Hill Gas Station exhibit! Inside, you will find a lot of great information about the history of drilling for oil. If you want, you can start by watching a video about drilling right in front of the entrance.
Walking around, you will see a display of roughnecks working on a drilling rig floor with tools called break-out tongs. These tongs work like wrenches and help the drill pipe extend down through the rotary table and into the ground. The drill pipe has a drill bit attached to the end, and there are many different types and sizes of bits on the wall and on the floor for you to see. You can even try the drill bit display by pulling down the handle and watching it turn and cut through rock. This design is called a tri-cone bit, invented by Howard Hughes in the 1920s.
You can also view three shadow boxes dedicated to the first three wells of the East Texas Oilfield. One well is the Daisy Bradford #3, located in Joinerville, and it was the first well drilled in the field. Another one is the Lou Della Crim #1, located south of Kilgore, which was the second well drilled in the field, and it extended the oil field in a northerly direction. The F. K. Lathrop #1, located 1 1/2 miles northwest of Longview, was the third well, and it was the first well drilled in Gregg County.
You can also see a large model of the cable tool method of drilling in the center of the room. This method was used before the 1930s, and it's a slow and tedious process, but it was successful in drilling shallow oil wells. Adjacent to the model, you can find a green gasoline motor used to push fluid in a pipeline to a gathering station. On the floor at the back of the gas station, you will find two pieces of steel pipe that were used in cable tool drilling.
As you exit the gas station through the side door, check out the tools and equipment on the wall. Which one do you find the most interesting?
Head into the Bank exhibit and click "Next"