Topic Guide to the Oil & Gas Industry (1901- )

The information and links below include search tips and a selection of articles covering this topic in the digitized Louisiana newspapers. The dates and suggested search terms can help to further explore this topic on Chronicling America. For the most search results, try the search terms in different combinations, in proximity, and as phrases.

Significant Dates

1901 - First oil well drilled in Jennings
1906 - Caddo-Pine Island Field discovered
1906 - Louisiana legislature passed the first oil and gase conservation law
1908 - First natural gas pipeline in the state built to transport gas from Caddo-Pine to Shreveport
1909 - Standard Oil Company builds refinery in Baton Rouge
1910 - First over-water oil platform constructed on Caddo Lake
1910 - Major pipeline transporting gas from Caddo-Pine Island Field to the refinery in Baton Rouge completed
1913 - Bull Bayou Field discovered
1916 - State Federation of Labor organized
1916 - Discovery of the Monroe Gas Field
1919 - Discovery of the Homer Field
1921 - Haynesville Field discovered

Suggested Search Terms

Oil well, oil field, oil industry, oil workers, natural gas, gas well, drilling rig

Sample Articles

• "The First Oil Well Derrick" The Weekly Messenger, May 04, 1901, Image 1
• "New Oil Field on the Tangipahoa River" St. Tammany Farmer, July 20, 1901, Image 1
• “Oil in Louisiana” The True Democrat, September 28, 1901, Image 4
• "Mamou Oil Well Spouts High Into Space" The Meridional, October 19, 1901, Image 1
• “Jennings Gusher Gushes Skyward” The Jennings Daily Record, January 02, 1902, Image 4
• “Oil Well Fire Still Raging” The Jennings Daily Record, July 17, 1902, Image 1
• "Well Gushes 300 Feet High" The Jennings Daily Record, July 21, 1902, Image 1
• "An Important Land Deal" The Rice Belt Journal, July 25, 1902, Image 1
• "Wild Gusher Brought In" The Rice Belt Journal, August 15, 1902, Image 1
• "Stealing the Oil Field" The Weekly Messenger, August 16, 1902, Image 2
• "Martin Oil Co." The Lafayette Advertiser, September 06, 1902, Image 1
• "Oil and Gas in Town" The Lafayette Advertiser, September 13, 1902, Image 1
• "To Sink New Well" The Rice Belt Journal, October 17, 1902, Image 1
• “A Genuine Gusher” The Rice Belt Journal, November 21, 1902, Image 1
• "At the Oil Well" The Southern Sentinel, April 24, 1903, Image 1
• "No Doubt About Oil" The Lafayette Advertiser, July 22, 1903, Image 1
• "Notes From the Oil Field" The Rice Belt Journal, October 30, 1903, Image 1
• "To Sink Well in City Limits" The Rice Belt Journal, September 09, 1904, Image 1
• "Three Hundred Barrel Well" The Rice Belt Journal, April 14, 1905, Image 1
• "Winnfield Oil Well" The Southern Sentinel, June 15, 1906, Image 1
• "Renewed Activities in Welsh Oil Field" The Rice Belt Journal, November 02, 1906
• "Component Parts of Huge Oil Trust" St. Tammany Farmer, December 08, 1906
• "Other Oil Well to be Drilled in Winnfield Territory" The Southern Sentinel, June 18, 1907, Image 1
• "Drilling at Welsh" The Rice Belt Journal, November 22, 1907, Image 1
• "Eunice-Jennings Oil Field Its Future and Resources" The Opelousas Courier, February 15, 1908, Image 1
• "Burning Lake of Oil" The Southern Sentinel The Southern Sentinel, July 24, 1908, Image 8
• "An Oil Well at Anse-La-Butte" The Southern Sentinel, January 15, 1909, Image 8
• “Good Report on Gas Supply” Lower Coast Gazette, February 05, 1910, Image 1
• “Natural Gas Illuminates a Park” Lower Coast Gazette, July 23, 1910, Image 1
• “Natural Gas in Louisiana” Lower Coast Gazette, August 06, 1910, Image 1
• "Machinery for Oil Well" St. Landry Clarion, August 06, 1910, Image 6
• "Natural Gas in Louisiana" Le Meschacébé, August 13, 1910, Image 2
• "Oil Field at Colfax is Proven" The Colfax Chronicle, august 13, 1910, Image 1
• "Marksville People Booming Up Oil Well" St. Landry Clarion, June 21, 1913, Image 5
• "Oil Well Fire" The Caucasian, August 14, 1913, Image 1
• "To the Workers in the Oil Field" The Voice of the People, September 11, 1913, Image 2
• “Call to Southern Oil Workers” The Voice of the People, February 12, 1914, Image 1
• "To the Oil Workers of Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma" The Voice of the People, February, 26, 1914, Image 1
• "Oil Field Workers if You Are 'Satisfied' Don't Read This" The Voice of the People, July 07, 1914, Image 2
• "History and Description of Oil and Gas Fields" The Weekly Messenger, May 22, 1915, Image 6-8
• “New Oil Well Brought In” The Rice Belt Journal, June 04, 1915, Image 1
• "Gas in Abundance at Colfax - Oil Developments to Follow" The Colfax Chronicle, July 24, 1915, Image 1
• "Oil at Bayou Boullion" The Weekly Messenger, November 04, 1916, Image 2
• "Paying Oil Wel Brought in at Bayou Bouillon" The Weekly Messenger, November 11, 1916, Image 2
• "Natural Gas for New Orleans" The Herald, January 10, 1918, Image 3
• “New Houma Gas Well Biggest in the World” The Rice Belt Journal, August 08, 1919, Image 1
• “North Louisiana Wealth Increases” Abbeville Progress, March 13, 1920, Image 2